Columbia  (Hnit)t«ftp 

THE   LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 
Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


rOETY    YEARS    OF    PIONEEE    LIFE. 


MEMOIR 


OP 


JOHN  MASON  PECK  D.D 


EDITED  FROM  HIS  JOURNALS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE. 


B  Y 


RUFUS    BABCOCK. 


PHILADELPHIA : 
AMERICAN   BAPTIST   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY, 

5  30      ARCH       STREET. 


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-% 


93  cf,  S" 


Entered  according  to   Act  of  Congress,  in  the   year  1864,  by 

THE  AKERICAN   BAPTIST    PUBLICATION    SOCIETY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  in  and  for  the  Eastern  District 

of  Pennsylvanijw 


phuadelphia  : 

bteeeotyped  and  printed  bt 

s.  a.geoege. 


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TO  THE  CHUKCHES 

WHICH  WERE  GATHERED  AND  EDIFIED  BY  HIS  MINISTRY  ; 

TO  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  WHICH  HE  PLANTED  ; 

THE  SEMINARIES  WHICH  HE  FOUNDED  OR  FOSTERED, 

AND   TO 

all  those  benefited  by  the  evangelizing,  humane,  and  enlightening 

instrumentalities  which  he  assiduously  promoted, 

this  memoir  of  one  calling  himself 

''an  old  pioneer," 

is  respectfully  inscribed  by 

their  fellow-laborer  and  friend, 

THE  EDITOR. 


"We  are  likely  in  our  efforts,  in  and  for  the  present,  to  forget 

"what  is  due  to  pioneers — to  those  who  went  forward  in  the  cause 

of  missions,  amidst  the  scorn  of  the  worldly  and  the  doiibt  of  the 

pious,   relying  with  a  sublime  faith    on  the  promise  made  to 

prophets  and  apostles. 

President  M.  B.  Anderson. 


Some  men  are  born  to  greatness,  or  have  it  thrust  on  them 
others  worthily  achieve  it. 


So  have  I  strived  to  preach  the  gospel,  not  where  Christ  was 
named,  lest  I  should  build  upon  another  man's  foundation. 

Paul, 


PREFACE 


iL^<^ 


No  compiler  of  a  biography  could  desire  to  be  favored  with  more 
abuuaant  and  reliable  materials.  They  consist  of  a  very  extensive 
<;orrespondence  from  the  year  1808  to  that  of  Dr.  Peck's  death, 
covermg  full  fifty  years  of  his  eventful  life.  Then  in  addition  to 
these  well-arranged  letters,  which  a  thousand  hands  have  contrib- 
uted, with  the  substance  of  his  more  important  replies,  there  are 
his  journals  for  almost  this  entire  period,  filling  fifty-three  volumes, 
some  few  of  them  small  and  portable  for  his  convenience  in  travel- 
ing, but  most  of  them  large,  either  folios  or  quartos  of  some  hun- 
dreds of  pages  ^ach,  full  of  all  facts  and  incidents  which  his  inquis- 
itive and  almost  ubiquitous  spirit  of  research  brought  under  his 
observation.  The  superabundance  of  these  materials  has  indeed 
proved  the  principal  embarrassment  in  this  compilation.  They 
are  ample,  and  by  Dr.  Peck  himself  were  designed  for  a  more  full 
and  extended  memoir  of  his  life  and  times  than  it  seemed  advisable 
to  the  publishers  now  to  send  forth. 

The  embarrassment  and  perplexity  of  deciding  what  to  reject 
entirely,  and  what  to  condense,  and  to  what  extent,  has  been  the 
chief  difficulty,  and  is  the  very  point  where  most  fault  is  likely  to 
be  found  with  this  volume.  Many  readers  of  it  will  no  doubt  fail 
to  find  some  of  the  things  they  had  looked  for  with  fondest  ex- 
pectation, and  which,  in  their  partial  judgment,  would  have  been 
more  interesting  than  other  things  which  are  here  preserved.  Let 
all  such  charitably  remember  how  many  there  are  of  different  tastes, 
judgments,  and  personal  predilections,  and  at  least  pardon,  if  they 
do  not  fully  approve,  the  earnest  endeavor  here  made  wisely  to 
compromise  conflicting  claims. 

I  have   been  main'y  desirous  to  .<j;ive  with  impartial  fidelity  the 

5 


6  PREFACE. 

forty  years  of  pioneer  life — its  preparation,  its  experiences,  and 
its  results — which  was  the  grand  specialty  of  Dr.  Peck.  It  em- 
braces tliie  years  of  preparation,  begun  in  privation,  vexed  with 
incessant  struggles  by  a  very  narrow,  imperfect  education,  which 
h«  wf.s  constantly  striving  to  enlarge  and  improve ;  by  indigent 
circumstances  and  various  connections  and  concomitants  not  of  an 
encouraging  character.  But  through  all  this  environment  of  hin- 
drances, a  brave  heart  and  steady  persistence  enabled  him  to  press 
his  way  successfully  to  the  point  where  he  was  commissioned  by 
the  Board  of  the  Triennial  Baptist  Convention  a  missionary  to  the 
great  West,  regarded  by  such  men  as  Baldwin  and  Furman,  Sharp 
and  Mercer,  John  Williams,  H.  G.Jones  and  Staughton,  as  one 
well  fitted  for  this  service. 

Then  follow  through  the  two-score  years  of  widely-varying  expe 
riences  in  this  kind  of  Ufe ;  his  generally  successful  efforts  in  the 
different  but  nearly  related  fields  of  evangelical  enterprise — preach- 
ing the  gospel,  establishing  churches,  Sunday-schools,  Bible  and 
tract  societies,  educational  institutions  to  train  preachers  and 
teachers  of  common-schools,  as  well  as  calling  into  requisition  and 
sustaining  the  religious  periodical  press  for  its  manifold  uses ;  and 
while  all  this  network  of  evangelizing  processes  was  vigorously 
pressed  into  requisition,  he  labored  to  surround,  and  supplement, 
and  sustain  it  by  all  desirable  civilizing  and  humane  instrument- 
alities ;  encouraging  a  better  class  of  settlers  to  follow  his  "  Guide 
for  Emigrants"  and  make  permanent  homes  and  thriving  com- 
munities in  the  fertile  Western  valley,  or,  as  he  finally  insisted  it 
should  be  called,  the  Great  Central  Yalley  of  North  America,  to 
make  them  temperate,  Sabbath-keeping,  and  free.  His  indefatig- 
able labors  in  this  incidental  sphere  have  been  productive  of  vast 
and  indeed  the  very  best  success.  The  venerable  Dr.  Lymar 
Beecker  used  to  say,  with  emphasis,  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
that  J.  M.  Peck  of  Illinois  had  led  more  valuable  settlers  into  the 
Northwest  than  any  other  ten  men.  Looking  at  what  the  mighty 
West  now  is,  and  ever  must  be,  in  its  relations  to  the  other  por- 
tions of  our  country,  this  service  can  be  scarcely  over-estimated. 


PREFACE.  7 

His  personal  privations  and  endurances  in  all  these  years  do  not 
stand  forth  in  any  marked  degree  of  prominence.  At  the  time  of 
their  severest  experience  he  measurably  overlooked  them,  so  com- 
pletely were  his  thoughts  and  heart  absorbed  in  contemplation  of 
the  great  benefits  which  were  to  result  from  them;  and  when  they 
•were  passed  he  would  make  no  effort  to  recall  them,  his  motto  ever 
being  to  forget  the  things  behind  and  press  forward  for  new  and 
higher,  worthier  attainments.  Yet  the  reader  of  these  pages  will 
catch  many  a  glimpse  of  hardship  and  of  actual  peril  and  suffering 
— physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual — just  enough,  it  is  hoped,  to 
win  the  full  tide  of  generous  sympathy,  without  such  overshadow- 
ing excess  as  would  tinge  the  review  with  discouragement  and 
gloom.  The  hopeful  ever  largely  predominated  in  the  subject  of 
this  memoir,  and  if  it  shall  awaken  in  those  perusing  it,  either  at 
the  East  or  West,  a  spirit  of  cheerful  self-sacrifice  for  the  public 
good,  akin  to  that  which  it  records,  it  will  not  be  read  in  vain. 
Self-denial  in  other  and  bloodier  fields  is  now  winning  its  meed  of 
fair  renown  to  an  extent  formerly  unprecedented.  Let  it  be  known 
also  that  peace  has  its  demands  for  large  sacrifices  and  generous 
offerings  as  well  as  war ;  that  their  product  on  this  field  is  to  say 
the  least  equally  beneficial  with  the  other. 

The  results  of  this  pioneer-Ufe  are  but  beginning  to  be  seen.  Yet 
how  cheering  to  one  -who  had  adventured  his  all  in  this  cause  were 
the  beginnings  which  his  closing  years  witnessed.  Little  less  than 
two  thousand  Baptist  churches  were  in  flourishing  existence  in  his 
field  ere  he  left  it,  where  there  were  not  a  score  on  his  entrance. 
More  than  twice  that  number  of  Sunday-schools,  of  which  he  and 
his  yoke-fellow,  Welch,  planted  the  first ;  with  colleges,  universities, 
and  professional  seminaries  of  promising  character  and  sufiiciently 
numerous  which  were  planted  and  flourishing  in  his  day  and  greatly 
by  his  aid.  And  had  he  lived  a  little  longer,  he  might  have  rejoiced 
that  his  own.  Illinois,  which  he  had  watched  over  from  infancy,  and 
aided  in  every  stage  of  its  transition  and  advancement,  had  given 
a  wise  and  faithful  President  to  the  Eepublic,  and  a  commander-in- 
chief  of  unsurpassed  valor  and  skill  to  lead  her  armies,  with  one 


8  PREFACE. 

hundred  and  thirty  thousand  valiant  soldiers,  to  crush  out  the  most 
atrocious  rebellion  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Yea,  more,  and  better 
still,  he  would  have  hailed  with  devoutest  gratitude  the  emancipa- 
tion of  all  the  enslaved  of  African  race  in  Missouri,  foretokening 
the  same  result  speedily  in  all  the  States. 

It  only  remains  to  explain  the  delay  in  the  publication  of  this 
condensed  memoir.  Four  years  since  it  was  written  and  submitted 
for  examination  to  the  Board  of  that  Pubhcation  Society  which 
Dr.  Peck  had  so  faithfully  served  as  its  chief  executive  officer  for 
some  of  the  most  active  years  of  his  laborious  and  useful  Hfe. 
Their  committee  of  examination,  after  the  thorough  perusal  of  the 
manuscript,  were  pleased  to  express  high  satisfaction  with  its  prep- 
aration, declaring  it  in  their  judgment  worthy  of  a  wide  circulatior 
and  adapted  to  important  usefulness.  But  at  just  that  period  the 
great  Northwest,  where  its  circulation  was  expected  to  be  greatest 
was  in  such  financial  embarrassment  from  repeated  failure  in  he'- 
crops  that  all  experienced  publishers  dissuaded  from  immediate 
publication.  Then  came  this  fearful  war,  engrossing  all  thoughts 
and  efforts. 

Now,  however,  that  the  mighty  giant  of  the  "West  has  thrown  off 
its  incubus,  and  we  have  become  so  accustomed  to  the  war  as  not 
to  disregard  entirely  other  claims,  and  specially  while  that  foreign 
mission,  of  which  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  one  of  the  earliest 
appointed  heralds  to  the  region  beyond  the  Mississippi,  is  now  stir- 
ring our  hearts  with  notes  of  preparation  for  the  first  jubilee,  it  seems 
an  auspicious  hour  to  send  forth  this  volmne.  "While  it  cheers  the 
humble  beginner  in  his  efforts  for  self-improvement,  and  gives  to 
the  scattered  immigrants  into  the  wilderness  the  assurance  that 
they  are  not  forgotten,  and  to  all  of  us  increasing  sympathy  with 
pioneer-missionaries  who  go  in  jeopardy  of  their  hves  to  obey  the 
great  commission,  may  it  promote  the  Redeemer's  glory  and  the 
extension  and  triumph  of  His  peaceful  reign  ! 

KB. 

PouGHKEEPSiE,  N.Y.,  31st  Marcli,  18G4. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

1789—1810. 

Birth  —  Genealogy —  Elementary  Education  —  Conversion — 
Marriage 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

1811, 1812. 

Removal  to  New  York  State — Joining  the  Baptists — Begins 
Preaching 2] 

CHAPTER  III. 

1812—1814. 

Preaching  in  Catskill — Ordination — School-teaching — Self-im- 
provement— Illness — Necessity  for  Removal 30 

CHAPTER  lY. 

1814,  1815. 

Pastorship  in  Amenia — Study  of  the  Greek  Testament  under 
Difficulties — Missionary  Zeal  and  Labors — First  Intercourse 
with  Rev.  Luther  Rice 40 

CHAPTER  Y. 

1816,  1817. 

Student-life  in  Philadelphia  under  Dr.  Staughton — His  Setting 
Apart  as  a  Missionary 48 

CHAPTER  YI. 

1817. 
Preparation — Journey  to  St.  Louis — Traveling  Experiences. ,     70 

CHAPTER  YII. 

1818. 

Condition  of  St.  Louis  forty-six  years  ago QC 

CHAPTER   YIII. 

1818. 

Early  Evangelizing  Efforts  in  the  West — Recollection  of  Towns 
in  Illinois  and  Missouri — Backwoods  Life — Squatter  Family 

—Indian  Council 93 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1818. 

Missionary  Tour  in  Southern  Missouri r, 117 

CHAPTER  X. 

1818,  1819. 
Tour  in  the  Boone's  Lick  Country,  North  of  Missouri  River — 
Visit  to  the  venerated  Daniel  Boone,  Founder  of  Kentucky  125 

CHAPTER  XI. 
1819. 
Recollections  of  Missouri  in  1819— Theological  Seminary- 
Alton  in  1819 — Theology  and  Common-sense — Mission  Soci- 
eties— Support  of  the  Ministry 149 

CHAPTER  XII. 

1820. 
Review  of  Western  Mission-school  at  St.  Charles — Trials  and 
Sickness — Close  of  the  Mission — Letter  from  Mr.  Peck 162 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

1821,  1822. 

Mr.  Peck  without  support— Removes  to  Farm  at  Rock  Spring 
—St.  Louis  Church — Tour  to  Missouri — Visits  Vandalia...  170 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

1822,  1823. 

Conversion  of  Governor  Carhn — Report  of  liabors — Itinerancy 
— Loss  of  Horse  and  Valuable  Papers — Recollections  by  Mr. 
Leman — Founding  of  Rock  Spring  Seminary 178 

CHAPTER  XV. 

1823,  1824. 

Extracts  from  Journal — Anti-mission  Baptists — Bible  Societies  ^ 
Formed — Report  to  Massachusetts  Baptist  Missionary  Sooi 
ety — Baptism  of  Green,  a  Murderer  ;  His  Execution — Sun 
day-schools 183 

CHAPTER   XVL 

1824,  1825. 

Religious  Destitution — American  Sunday-soiiool  Union — De- 
feat of  Slavery  in  Illinois — Governor  Coles — Spiritual  Con- 
flicts— Study  of  Bible — Prejudices  against  Baptists — Camp- 
meetings — Review  of  his  Labors 193 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

1825. 
Circuit-preaching — Robert  Owen's  Colony — Anti-slavery  Bap- 
tists— Missouri  Slaveholders— Reflections 204 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER  XVlil. 

1826. 
Visits  Eastern  States— Washington  City— Rice  and  Staughton 
— ^New  York  Anniversaries — Visits  Native  Place — Theologi- 
cal School  Projected 212 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
1827. 
Need  of  Theological  Training — Rock  Spring  Seminary — Joshua 
Bradley — Dependence  on  Mr.  Peck  and  Family — Revivals — 
Seminary  Opposed 225 

CHAPTER  XX. 

1828—1831. 
First  Religions  Paper  in  the  West — Rev.  T.  P.  Green — Nicholas 
Brown — "The  Pioneer"  Issued — Mr.  Peck's  Plans — Ameri- 
can Bible  Society — Guide  for  Emigrants — Rev.  Dr.   Going — 
Self-examination 234 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

1832—1834. 

The  Black  Hawk  War— Its  Origin,  Progress,  and  End— Re- 
moval of  Seminary  to  Alton — Illinois  Anniversaries — Ex- 
tracts from  Journal — Death  of  John  Clark — Gazetteer  of 
Illinois— Failing  Health — Endowment  of  Alton  Seminary. .  246 

CHAPTER  XXH. 

1835,  1836. 

Second  Visit  East — Triennial  Convention  at  Richmond — Dr. 
Cox  and  Mr.  Hoby — Richmond  College — Philadelphia  and 
Boston  Anniversaries — Brown  University — Dr.  Shurtlefif — 
Shurtlefif  College  Building 260 

CHAPTER  XXHI. 

1836,  1837. 

Severe  Illness — Press  Removed  to  Alton — Western  Pioneer — 
Illinois  Baptist  Education  Society — Alton  Riots — Murder  of 
Lovejoy — Pastorship 269 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

1838—1840. 
Observance  of  Sabbath — Transfer  of  Pioneer — Dr.  Harris  on 
Union — Reordination — Baptism  of  Son — Preaching  Tour  in 
Missouri,  etc. — Reports  of  his  Labors 278 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

1840,  1841. 
Labors  and  Trials — Lectures  on  Prophecies — Convention  of 
Western  Baptists — Election  Sermon — Death  of  General  Har- 


12  CONTENTS. 

rison — ^Western  Baptist  Publication  Society — Drama  ot  Te- 
cniuthe 928 

CHAPTER  XXYI. 

1842. 

rermessee — Sale  of  a  Negro  Boy — New  Orleans — Charles  Dick- 
ens— Yisit  to  the  East — Miller — The  Adventists — Anniver- 
saries at  Boston  and  New  York — Synopsis  of  Address  at 
Boston 300 

CHAPTER  XXYII. 

1842. 

Attacked  by  Banner  and  Pioneer — New  York  Associations — 
Hamilton  Seminary — Millerites — Home  again — Correspond- 
ence— ^Ministers'  Meeting — Parental  Authority 309 

CHAPTER  XXYin. 

1843. 

Secretary  of  American  Baptist  Publication  Society — New  Plans 
Proposed — Journey  to  Philadelphia — Accident — Anniversa- 
ries at  Albany  and  New  York — Dr.  Beecher — Society  Work- 
— New  England  Anniversaries 318 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

1844. 

Visits  the  West — ^Wreck  of  the  Shepherdess — Narrow  Escape 
of  Mr.  Peck — Advocates  the  Publication  Society  in  West- 
Publishing  Fund  Started — Yisits  Kentucky — General  Jack- 
son— Description  of  Mr.  Peck's  Family  and  Home — Resigns 
Secretaryship 327 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

1845—1853. 

Life  of  Daniel  Boone — Pastoral  Duties — Literary  Labors — 
Western  Watchman— Western  Annals — Dr.  Jeter's  Letter 
about  Dr.  Peck — Shurtlefif  College — Rock  Spring  Seminary 
Burned — Valuable  Papers  and  Books  Lost — Last  Yisit  East 
— American  Baptist  Historical  Society  Organized — Gathers 
a  New  Library 341 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

1853—1857. 

Pastor  of  Covington  Church — Severe  Illness — Resignation — 
Retires  to  Private  Life— Letter  of  Mr.  Bush— Extracts  from 
Mr.  Peck's  Journals — Literary  Labors  —  Reminiscences — 
Death  of  Mrs.  Peck— Last  Tour— Last  Illness— Death- 
Funeral 352 


MEMOIR 

OF 

JOHN     M.    PECK. 

— ♦♦^ 

CHAPTER    I. 

Birth — Genealogy — Ediivdition — Conversion — Marriage. 

How  dififerently  the  same  )bject  affects  us  as  we  know  or 
are  ignorant  of  its  relations.  If  in  your  casual  wanderings 
you  pass  some  copious  fountain,  and  step  across  the  little 
rivulet  issuing  from  it,  with  oaly  the  vague  conviction  that  it 
must  find  its  way  to  the  ocean,  the  impression  is  slight.  But 
if  after  a  thorough  acquaintano^  with  the  Nile,  or  the  Missis- 
sippi, for  instance — after  tracing  for  thousands  of  miles  their 
magnificent  course,  witnessing  t&e  fertility  they  spread  around 
them,  or  the  wealth  which  comm<srce  wafts  on  their  bosoms— 
you  then  follow  them  to  their  sources,  and  stand  by  the  bub- 
bling fountain  from  which  each  takes  its  rise,  what  a  train  of 
musing  such  a  spectacle  suggests.  With  somewhat  similar 
feelings  those  of  us  who  have  kno¥ni  for  scores  of  years  the 
beneficent  and  wide-reaching  results  of  the  life-labors  of  John 
Mason  Peck  go  back  to  the  origin  of  his  career. 

The  quiet  home  of  Asa  and  Hannah  Peck  at  their  lowly 
dwelling  in  the  parish  of  Litchfield  South  Farms,  Connecticut, 
witnessed  his  birth  on  the  31st  of  October,  1789  ;  and  there 
for  eighteen  years  he  was  reared  in  the  simplicity,  frugality, 
and  industry  becoming  a  child  of  the  Puritans.  The  gene- 
alogical track  of  his  family  leads  directly  to  Deacon  Paul 
Peck,  who  in  1634  emigrated  from  Essex  county,  England, 
2  13 


14  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.  PECK. 

and  soon  after,  with  the  pious  Hooker,  came  to  Hartford  and 
founded  the  infant  colony  of  Connecticut.* 

Nothing  of  peculiar  interest  occurred  to  mark  the  character 
of  Peck's  childhood,  or  early  youth.     His  father  was  in  very 

*  The  following  genealogical  account  of  the  ancestry  of  Dr.  Peck 
has  been  carefully  prepared  from  numerous  valuable  papers  fur- 
nished by  the  Hon.  Tracy  Peck,  of  Bristol,  Ct.,  a  kinsman  of  the 
Doctor. 

Paul  Peck  and  Martha  his  wife  came  to  America  in  1634.  He  was 
one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  town  of  Hartford,  and  died  there,  De- 
cember 23,  1G95,  aged  eighty-seven  years.  He  had  five  sons  and 
four  daughters.  The  fifth  son,  Samuel,  was  born  in  1647,  and  died 
169(1,  at  West  Hartford,  leaving  one  child  also  named  Saviuel,  born 
1672,  and  died  December  9,  1765,  aged  ninety-three  years.  In  the 
year  1700  Samuel,  the  younger,  married  Abigail  Collyer,  and  they 
had  a  large  family.  Their  son  Elisha,  the  grandfather  of  Dr.  Peck, 
was  born  in  1720,  and  married  his  cousin  Lydia  Peck.  He  died 
May  29,  1762,  leaving  six  children.  The  oldest,  named  j4sa— the 
father  of  Dr.  Peck— was  born  March  8,  1744,  in  Berlin,  Ct.  ;  but  in 
1783  he  and  his  mother  moved  to  the  parish  of  South  Farms  in 
Litchfield,  where,  in  1786,  he  was  married  to  Hannah  Farnum,  who 
was  born  there  July  25,  1755.  They  had  but  one  child,  John  Mason 
Peck,  who  was  born  at  South  Farms,  October  31, 1789.  He  was  mar- 
ried. May  8,  1809,  to  Sarah  Paine,  who  was  born  in  Greene  county, 
N.Y.,  January  31,  1789.     They  had  the  following  issue,  viz.  : 

1.  Eli  Prince,  born  in  Litchfield,  July  28,  1810,  and  died  in  St.  Louis 

county.  Mo.,  October  5,  1820. 

2.  Hannah  Farnum,  born  July  10,  1812,  and  married  Ashford  Smith, 

of  Rockville,  Iowa. 

3.  Hervey  JenJcs,  born  September  28,  1814,  and  died  December  17, 

1855,  leaving  a  widow  and  six  children. 

4.  William  Carey,  born  February  11,  1818  ;  died  September  14,  1821. 

5.  Mai-y  Ann,  born   September  18,  1820,  and  married   Samuel  Gr. 

Smith,  and  resided  in  Galena,  111. 

6.  William  Staughfon,  born  November  13,  1823,  and  resided  at  Spruce 

Mills,  Iowa. 

7.  John  Quincy  Adams,  born  August  27,  1825,  and  resides  at  Rock 

Spring,  111. 

8.  An  infant,  born  December  10,  1827,  and  died  sine  nomine. 

9.  Henry  Martin,  born  May  7,  1829,  and  resides  at  Rock  Spring. 
10.  James  Ashford,  born  September  27,  1831. 


COMMON    SCHOOL    EDUCATION.  15 

humble  circumstances,  and  moreover  was  afflicted  with  lame- 
ness, which  early  threw  a  large  share  of  the  care  and  the  toils 
of  tilling  the  little  farm  upon  this  his  only  son.  From  the 
time  he  was  fourteen  years  old  his  summers  were  faithfully 
devoted  to  farm  work,  while  in  the  winter  months  he  con- 
tinued to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  common  school — that  pride 
of  New  England,  and  especially,  in  that  period  of  her  history, 
of  the  State  of  Connecticut.  True,  the  range  of  studies  was 
not  mere  than  half  as  extensive  as  at  present.  The  aim  was 
to  teach  boys  and  girls,  gathered  in  the  same  little  apartment, 
to  spell  and  read  well,  to  write  a  fair,  legible  hand,  and  acquire 
such  familiarity  with  the  fundamental  rules  of  arithmetic  as 
w^ould  enable  them  to  keep  their  simple  accounts  correctly,  to 
cast  the  interest  which  they  paid  or  received,  and  generally 
to  familiarize  themselves  with  the  established  forms  requisite 
for  the  transaction  of  ordinary  business.  Some  geographical 
and  historical  books  were  used  for  reading-lessons,  and  thus  a 
smattering  of  knowledge  in  these  branches  was  secured.  A 
geography  with  an  atlas  of  maps,  or  a  historical  book  adapted 
to  the  capacity  of  children,  had  not  then  been  introduced  to 
the  common  schools ;  and  grammar  was  chiefly  or  wholly 
learned  by  imitating  good  usage  without  much  knowledge 
of  its  rules.  Good  elocution  was  sometimes  attempted  to  be 
taught  by  rehearsing  memoriter  fine  select  specimens  of  prose 
and  poetic  compositions  ;  but  lest  this  should  too  much  attract 
attention  and  pave  the  way  for  stage  exhibitions,  which  were 
deemed  too  theatrical,  judicious  cautions  were  frequently  ad- 
ministered both  to  teachers  and  scholars  by  the  official  visitors 
— the  parson  being  one. 

The  common  school  which  young  Peck  attended  must  have 
been  rather  inferior  to  the  usual  average  of  that  period  ;  or  he 
was,  as  he  frankly  admits,  more  stupid  and  sluggish  than  or- 
dinary lads,  even  with  his  scanty  advantages  ;  for  when  he  was 
eighteen  years  old,  and  himself  began  to  teach,  his  orthogra- 
phy and  chirography  too  were  sadly  deficient — and  to  correct 
grammatical  usages  he  seems  to  have  made  no  pretensions. 
Yet  his  mind  and  judgment  were  considerably  exercised  ;  anc 


IG  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

the  common  remark  in  the  neighborhood  was  that  John, 
though  uncultivated,  was  no  simpleton.  He  regularly  heard 
the  gospel  preached  on  the  Sabbath,  and  enjoyed  the  advan- 
tages of  personal  intercourse  with  those  more  intelligent  than 
himself ;  and  especially  after  beginning  to  keep  school  during 
the  winter  months,  and  board  around  among  the  families  of 
his  employees,  he  seems  to  have  made  rapid  advances  in 
acquiring  general  information. 

At  just  about  this  period  also  his  religious  nature  seems  to 
have  been  quickened  to  new  activity.  I  find  among  his  papers 
a  sketch  of  his  early  religious  exercises,  hastily  written  by  him, 
as  early  as  1811,  from  which  a  small  portion  may  here  be 
properly  extracted  : 

The  early  period  of  my  life  was  spent  like  the  generality  of 
youth  in  willful  opposition  against  God,  and  in  pursuing  those  vani- 
ties and  follies  which  children  and  youth  generally  follow.  About 
the  age  of  ten  or  eleven  years  I  had  fearful  apprehensions  of  the 
danger  of  eternal  punishment,  and  used  to  attempt  to  pray  to  God 
to  deliver  me  therefrom ;  but  I  knew  nothing  of  the  way  of  salva- 
tion through  the  righteousness  of  a  Eedeemer. 

These  impressions  wore  ofiP,  and  I  remained  for  the  most  part 
stupid  and  senseless  until  I  arrived  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  The 
Lord  was  then  pleased  to  stop  me  in  my  rebellion,  and  turn  me  unto 
himself.  The  summer  previous  I  had  been  peculiarly  thoughtless ; 
but  on  the  evening  of  the  15th  of  December,  1807  (a  time  never  to 
be  forgotten),  I  was  induced,  rather  from  motives  of  curiosity,  to 
attend  a  meeting  about  three  miles  from  home,  where  the  work  of 
God's  converting  grace  was  progressing  in  a  most  remarkable  man- 
ner. Here  I  was  brought  to  see  myself  a  guilty  sinner  before  God, 
deserving  his  wrath.  These  exercises  continued  and  increased  for 
about  one  week.  I  viewed  myself  as  lost  without  the  interposition 
of  God's  mercy.  My  distress  increased,  and  my  burden  became 
heavier,  imtil  the  end  of  the  week,  when  I  was  delivered,  and  found 
a  peace  of  mind  and  a  joy  in  God  which  I  had  never  felt  before. 
Insensibly,  my  heart  was  drawn  out  to  love  and  praise  the  Lord. 
I  looked  around  on  the  works  of  creation  with  a  satisfaction  and 
sweet  delight  before  unknown ;  for  they  seemed  manifestly  declar- 
ing the  glory  of  God.  I  then  feared  nothing  so  much  as  relapsing 
into  carelessness  and  stupidity. 


CONVERSION,  AND    ITS    RESULTS.  17 

My  hope  was  not  at  first  as  clear  and  bright  as  it  afterwards 
became  when  a  fuller  discovery  was  made  of  the  way  of  salvation 
through  the  merits  of  Christ.  Little  by  little  this  faint  hope  in- 
creased. The  character  of  God,  his  law,  his  providences,  and  the 
plan  of  grace  as  far  as  I  understood  it,  appeared  glorious  and  ex- 
cellent. The  total  depravity  of  the  human  heart  was  a  doctrine  I 
was  early  acquainted  with.  I  felt  a  pleasure,  therefore,  in  ascribing 
the  whole  work  of  salvation  to  the  Lord,  being  sensible  of  my  own 
weakness  and  my  absolute  dependence  on  Divine  grace. 

It  would  be  an  interesting  and  profitable  study  for  the 
mental  philosopher  to  consider  fully  the  development  which 
this  one  impulse  gave  to  the  whole  mind  of  the  young  man. 
He  who  before  had  vegetated  rather  than  lived,  now  rises  by 
rapid  evolutions  to  a  worthier  elevation ;  he  breathes  a  purer 
air,  he  sees  through  a  clearer  medium.  He  shakes  himself 
from  the  dust  in  which  he  was  so  willingly  buried  before,  and 
pants  for  the  privilege  of  doing  and  being  something  worthy 
of  his  new,  his  immortal  nature.  Aside  from  the  mere  de- 
liverance from  the  thraldom  and  degradation  of  his  moral 
nature,  he  is  now  mentally  a  new  creature — old  things  have 
passed  away  :  behold,  all  things  have  become  new. 

With  this  quickening  impulse  there  soon  comes  the  yearn^ 
ing  solicitude,  and  then  the  importunate  cry  of  the  converted 
Saul  of  Tarsus,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?"  In 
after  years  he  tells  us — though  probably  he  told  no  one  then 
■ — that  to  him  also  the  Lord  seemed  to  say  by  his  Spirit : 
"  Thou  art  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me  to  bear  my  name  to  the 
Gentiles,  and  I  will  show  thee  how  great  things  thou  must 
suffer  for  my  sake."  It  would  have  seemed  next  to  impos- 
sible, then,  that  this  rude,  uncouth,  poor,  and  almost  friendless 
boy  should  become  a  minister — and  an  able  minister — of  the 
gospel ;  that  for  scores  of  years  he  should  fill  some  of  the 
most  prominent  and  responsible  positions  among  the  ambassa- 
dors of  Christ.  No  education-societies  then  sounded  out  their 
welcome  words  of  encouragement  to  those  who  are  willing, 
but  unable,  to  give  themselves  to  the  work  of  needful  prepara- 
tion for  this  high  and  holy  mission.     The  prevalent  opinior 


18  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

then  inculcated  among  his  religious  associates  was  that  a  full 
and  thorough  course  of  classical  and  scientific  training  was 
the  indispensable  prerequisite  for  preaching  the  gospel.  He 
saw  himself  the  chief  reliance  of  poor,  infirm,  and  loving 
parents  ;  and  he  said  to  the  promptings  of  the  Spirit :  "  No, 
no  ;  this  can  never  be.  I  must  abide  in  the  useful  calling  of 
husbandry,  and  serve  God  in  a  private  station."  This  he 
honestly,  and  for  a  period  as  considerable  as  two  or  three 
years,  attempted.  But  ever  and  anon — as  he  followed  the 
plough,  or  swung  the  scythe,  as  he  delved  with  the  hoe  or  the 
mattock,  or  felled  the  forest,  or  tended  his  farm  stock  in  the 
barn,  or  drove  his  flocks  afield — the  sweet  voice  of  ths  good 
Shepherd  would  be  sounding  in  his  ears  and  reaching  the 
depths  of  his  soul :  "If  thou  lovest  me,  feed  my  sheep,  feed 
my  lambs:  go  and  publish  the  glad  tidings  to  every  creature." 
This  he  especially  remarked,  that  when  God  gave  him  most 
religious  enjoyment,  when  his  heart  was  warmed  with  love  to 
his  Saviour,  and  his  own  hopes  of  heaven  were  clearest,  bright- 
est, and  the  peace  of  God  was  keeping  and  filling  his  soul, 
then  he  could  not  at  all  repress  these  exercises  in  regard  to 
preaching.  But  when  he  was  dull  and  stupid  in  his  religious 
feelings,  then  this  voice  calling  him  to  public  duty  died  away. 

Partly  perhaps  with  the  hope  of  driving  such  an  idea  from 
him  effectually  and  forever,  he  formed  the  next  year  after 
his  hopeful  conversion  a  matrimonial  connection.  He  mar- 
ried, however,  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord ;  and,  as  John  Bunyan 
said  in  his  own  case,  his  mercy  was  to  light  on  one  eminently 
fitted  to  be  to  him,  religiously  as  well  as  in  temporal  things,  a 
true  helpmate. 

In  so  important  a  matter  no  doubt  he  sought  and  found  the 
Divine  guidance  ;  and  that  his  memoir  may  contain  his  views 
of  the  case,  it  will  be  proper  here  to  give  his  own  sketch,  pre- 
pared many  years  later,  and  embracing  much  in  regard  to  the 
domestic  and  social  habits  of  that  age  and  vicinity.  So  rapid 
have  been  the  changes  in  society  in  these  respects,  that  the 
simple  practices  in  our  fathers'  days  are  even  now  a  refreshing 
novelty. 


REQtnSITES   IN   A    WIFE.  19 

At  the  period  we  allude  to— the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury— every  farmer's  daughter,  and  every  girl  raised  in  a  farmer's 
family  of  the  best  credit,  was  trained  by  theory  and  practice  in  the 
routine  of  household  affairs.  This  was  not  pecuUar  to  New  Eng- 
land. In  New  York  among  the  Dutch  settlements  in  the  older 
parts  of  that  State,  as  well  as  in  the  families  from  New  England 
that  planted  themselves  in  middle  and  western  New  York,  in  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee — even  in 
the  "  Old  Dominion"  and  further  South  where  servants  performed 
the  more  onerous  labor — the  mistress  of  the  family  was  the  over- 
seer in  her  department.  The  daughters  were  trained  to  follow  th« 
footsteps  of  the  mother.  The  dairy,  the  poultry,  and  the  garden, 
showed  proofs  enough  of  their  industry  and  skill. 

In  the  Northern  and  Middle  States  no  girl  raised  on  a  farm  was 
deemed  fit  to  marry,  until  her  beddiiig,  clothing,  window  curtains 
towels,  table-cloths,  and  every  article  of  domestic  manufacture. 
were  made  with  her  own  hands  in  quantities  sufficient  for  respecta- 
ble housekeeping.  And  no  young  man  who  had  enterprise,  in- 
dustry, and  forethought,  would  marry  a  peevish,  whimsical,  senti 
mental,  lazy  slattern.  Young  men,  then,  who  made  visits  to  fami- 
lies for  a  specific  purpose  were  ingenious  in  finding  out  the  domes- 
tic habits  and  qualities  of  the  mother  before  they  committed  them- 
selves to  the  daughter. 

We  have  drawn  this  portraiture  that  our  readers  may  under 
stand  to  what  class  the  writer  was  guided  by  Providence  in  tht 
selection  of  the  woman  who,  for  nearly  forty-eight  years,  proved 
his  true  helpmate. 

She  is  thus  described  by  his  own  hand . 

Sally  Paine — as  was  her  customary  designation  in  childhood 
— was  born  in  the  county  of  Greene,  N.  Y.,  January  31,  1789.  Her 
mother  died  before  she  was  twelve  years  old.  Sally  (who  assumed 
the  legitimate  name  Sarah  on  entering  womanhood)  kept  house  for 
her  father,  and  had  the  charge  of  three  younger  children  for  two 
years.  The  mother  she  had  lost  was  an  excellent  housewife,  but 
one  would  think  her  daughter  was  too  young  to  learn  domestic 
economy.  Yet  her  father  and  others  in  the  neighborhood  ever 
spoke  of  her  as  an  extraordinary  girl  for  tidiness,  economy,  and 
domestic  cultivation.  She  had  but  a  few  weeks  opportunity  of 
school  education,  yet  she  taught  herself  and  her  brothers,  and  set 
them  an  example  which  would  have  done  credit  to  any  female  of 


20  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK. 

mature  age.  After  her  father's  second  marriage  she  went  to  reside 
with  her  mother's  parents — plain,  old-fashioned  farming  people  in 
Litchfield,  Ct.  Then  she  had  opportunity  of  attending  the  common 
district  school  some  part  of  each  season.  Slight  as  were  these  ad- 
vantages, she  obtained  from  them,  as  was  the  common  result  of  the 
training  of  those  days,  a  hardy,  robust  constitution,  high  health,  a 
vigorous  mind,  and  a  reasonable  supply  of  common-sense. 

In  1807,  during  an  extensive  revival  of  religion,  in  the  first 
parish  of  Litchfield,  Sarah  Paine  professed  to  be  savingly  converted 
to  God,  and  next  year  joined  the  Congregational  Church  then  under 
the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Danl.  Huntington.  It  was  at  that  period 
we  became  personally  acquainted,  which  resulted  in  esteem  for  each 
other. 

We  knew  nothing  of  the  sickly,  sentimental,  mixed  emotion 
called  love,  so  faithfully  and  foolishly  portrayed  in  the  novelettes 
and  periodicals  of  this  age.  We  were  joined  in  marriage  on  the 
8th  of  May,  1809.  About  one  month  later,  the  young  husband 
with  his  chosen  bride  might  have  been  seen  on  a  farm-wagon  with 
a  load  of  household  furniture.  The  chairs,  table,  bureau,  kitchen 
utensils,  and  a  few  other  articles,  were  the  gift  of  her  grandparents  ; 
but  every  article  of  bedding,  table-hnen,  and  personal  clothing  for 
home  wear,  with  many  other  et  ceteras,  were  made  by  her  own 
hands.  And  yet  she  w^as  but  twenty  years  and  four  months  old, 
and  her  husband  was  nine  months  younger.  We  moved  into  the 
house  where  the  writer  was  born,  and  lived  with  his  father  and 
mother  about  two  years. 

Some  of  the  correspondence  between  these  parties  before 
their  marriage,  and  much  afterward,  has  passed  under  review 
ill  the  preparation  of  this  chapter,  and  if  it  does  not  imply 
mutual  love — the  purest  and  the  best — it  certainly  looks  very 
much  like  it.  Yet  it  is  singularly  free  from  what  would  be 
rightly  called  foolish  sentimentalism.  A  confiding  esteem 
based  on  the  sterling  excellencies  discovered  in  each  other, 
controlled  by  Christian  principle,  expresses  briefly  and  justly 
what  was  the  nature  of  their  affection.  How  noble  were  its 
achievements,  and  how  faithfully  and  perse veringly  it  enabled 
them  to  illustrate  with  beautiful  and  winning  simplicity  their 
sacred  union  for  nearly  half  a  century,  these  pages  will  confirm. 


REMOVES   TO   YORK   STATE.  21 


CHAPTER    II. 

Removes  to  York  State — Joins  the  Baptists — Begins  Preaching. 

When  their  eldest  child  was  a  month  or  two  old,  the  ex- 
pectation was  that  the  infant  would  be  taken  to  the  meeting 
and  "  dedicated  to  God  by  baptism,"  as  the  phrase  was.  The 
mother,  for  some  reason,  had  no  confidence  in  the  Scriptural 
authority  of  infant  baptism  when  she  joined  the  church ;  and 
the  father,  who  had  previously  examined  the  subject,  until  he 
honestly  supposed  he  had  proofs  enough  of  it  by  inference,  at 
that  period  was  in  such  perplexity  as  to  stay  proceedings. 
The  winter  following,  these  parents  had  a  number  of  inter- 
views with  Kev.  Lyman  Beecher — since  the  venerable  Dr. 
Beecher — who  by  a  series  of  fair  and  candid  efforts  was  unsuc- 
cessful in  convincing  either  of  them  of  the  Scriptural  authority 
of  this  Pedobaptist  rite. 

Next,  and  at  no  remote  period,  they  were  found  revolving 
the  question  of  a  removal  to  Mrs.  Peck's  native  region.  The 
reasons  for  this  procedure  were  probably  such  as  often  in  that 
day  and  since  have  induced  the  enterprising  and  hardy  fami- 
lies of  New  England  to  seek  ampler  room  and  more  encour- 
aging prospects  beyond  her  narrow  boundaries.  But  the  sun- 
dering of  ties  which  bind  them  to  their  early  homes  always 
costs  a  pang.  Theirs,  too,  was  a  Christian  home.  In  that 
humble  dwelling  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice  had  been 
offered  to  God,  their  early  vows  had  there  been  recorded, 
and  the  day  when  they  bade  those  hallowed  scenes  farewell 
could  not  but  have  been  tinged  with  a  tender  sadness.  But 
they  were  young  and  hopeful;  and  they  felt  that  while  the 
wide  world  was  all  before  them  where  to  choose,  Providence 
would  be  their  guide.  This  transition  and  its  results  are  thus 
presented  by  the  pen  of  Dr.  Peck  at  a  comparatively  recent 
period : 


22  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.  PECK. 


EEMINISCENCES    OF    "  YOBK    STATE." 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1811,  I  moved  my  family,  consisting  of 
a  wife  and  one  child,  from  South  Farms,  my  native  parish,  in  Con- 
necticut, into  the  town  of  Windham,  Greene  county,  N.  Y.  The 
place  of  my  residence  for  the  summer  was  then  known  as  Big 
Hollow,  a  deep,  narrow  valley  or  gorge,  near  the  head  of  one  of  the 
Kills  or  mountain  streams  that  united  with  East-Kill,  West-Kill, 
and  other  streams,  to  form  Schoharie-Kill.  It  meandered  through 
a  settlement  further  down,  long  since  known  as  Prattsville,  the  site 
of  an  extensive  tannery. 

AVith  the  exception  of  fifteen  or  twenty  small  clearings,  on  the 
mountain  sides  and  along  the  hoUow  for  several  miles,  the  country 
was  a  dense  wilderness,  consisting  of  massive  hemlocks,  intermixed 
with  sugar  maple,  beech,  birch,  fir,  and  ironwood.  Occasionally  there 
were  clumps  of  pine.  The  Big  Hollow  settlement  consisted  of 
seven  families,  mine  making  the  eighth,  within  the  distance  of  three 
m.iles  from  the  center.  This  was  distinguished  by  a  small  log  build- 
ing which  was  occasionally  occupied  as  a  school-house,  and  on  Sab- 
bath by  a  rehgious  meeting,  conducted  by  Deacon  Hitchcock,  the 
patriarch  of  this  little  settlement.  The  venerable  deacon  originated 
from  Connecticut,  belonging  to  the  race  of  Congregational  Puritans, 
and  of  course  was  a  rigid  Pedobaptist,  as  were  most  of  the  members 
of  his  family,  who  made  half  the  population  of  the  valley. 

The  writer  and  his  wife  were  then,  nominally,  of  the  same  de- 
nomination ;  but  a  year's  careful  investigation  had  brought  them, 
theoretically,  on  to  Baptist  ground.  On  invitation  of  the  deacon,  I 
joined  in  the  meeting.  Having  acquired  the  faculty  of  reading  with 
fluency  and  correctness,  and  being  in  possession  of  a  number  of 
printed  sermons,  new  to  the  hearers,  I  aided  the  deacon  in  reading, 
and.making  the  concluding  prayer.  Occasionally,  if  the  sermon  was 
short,  I  spoke  a  httle  extempore.  This  habit,  and  that  of  praying 
in  social  meetings,  had  been  acquired  in  the  "Young  People's 
Conference,"  held  during  an  extensive  revival  in  Litchfield,  Ct. 

It  was  during  the  period  of  the  earlier  settlement  of  this  village, 
before  my  first  visit,  when  twelve  or  fifteen  families,  and  as  many 
professors  of  religion,  made  up  the  community,  that  Deacon  Hitch- 
cock made  an  abortive  attempt  to  get  a  Presbyterian  church  organ- 
ized. It  so  happened,  that  at  least  one-half  the  professors  had 
their  doubts  about  the  Scriptural  claims  of  Pedobaptism.  But 
what  made  the  matter  the  more  unpleasant  to  the  good  old  deacon 
was  the  fact  that  a  daughter-in-law  and  her  husband  began  to  show 


CONTROVERSY    ON    INFANT    BAPTISM.  23 

symptoms  of  believing  in  Scriptural  baptism.  As  this  question 
must  be  settled,  and  doubts  removed,  before  a  Pedobaptist  church 
could  be  formed,  the  deacon  made  application  to  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Townsend,  then  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  New  Durham, 
to  make  them  a  visit,  and  remove  the  doubts  Baptist  principles  had 
engendered.  A  day  was  fixed,  and  some  of  the  people  sent  word 
to  Deacon  Kundell,  who  belonged  to  a  Baptist  church  called  Cairo, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  mountains.  The  parties  met,  and  Mr. 
Townsend,  by  a  very  familiar  illustration,  showed  how  the  infant 
children  of  believers  were  brought  into  covenant  relation  with 
their  parents,  and  became  entitled  to  baptism.  "  It  is  done  by  graft- 
•ing,"  said  the  shrewd  divine.  "You  all  know  when  the  scion  is 
inserted  in  the  stock  by  grafting,  there  are  Httle  buds  on  it  that  are 
grafted  in  also.  These  buds  represent  the  infants,  who  are  received 
to  baptism  by  virtue  of  the  faith  of  the  parents."  This  was  all 
plain,  and  no  mistake ;  for  the  minister  had  proved  it  by  reference 
to  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Komans.  Some  of  the  company  called 
on  Deacon  Rundell  for  his  views.  Now  it  so  happened,  the  deacon 
had  a  large  nursery,  raised  and  sold  grafted  fruit-trees  to  the  farmers 
throughout  the  country,  and  was  a  quick-witted,  shrewd  man  withal. 
"  Deacon  Eundell,  you  understand  all  about  grafting,  and  know  the 
Scriptures  too,"  replied  one  of  the  doubters.  "  Why,  yes,"  said  the 
deacon ;  "  I  have  supplied  all  the  people  with  fruit-trees  of  my  own 
grafting  on  t'other  side  of  the  mountains,  and  guess  I  shall  furnish 
several  hundred. for  Windham  this  fall.  But  in  grafting  I  always 
noticed  one  thing  that  the  minister  has  overlooked.  The  little  buds, 
when  grafted  in  with  the  scion,  always  produced  good  fruit.  If  the 
children  of  believing  parents  always  produce  the  fruits  of  righteous- 
ness, I  think  they  ought  to  be  baptized,  because  they  are  in  spiritual 
union,  not  with  their  parents,  but  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Head  of  the  Church."  The  response  from  the  minister  was  :  ''  Mr. 
Eundell,  we  did  not  meet  here  to  controvert  disputed  points ;  re- 
ligious controversy  is  very  unprofitable.  We  will  close  the  meet- 
ing." This  story  was  told  the  writer  by  some  parties  interested. 
It  prevented  the  formation  of  a  Presbyterian  church  at  that  time. 
Learning  that  the  Baptist  church  of  New  Durham  held  meetings 
monthly  in  a  school-house  on  the  Batavia  turnpike,  some  five  miles 
north  of  our  residence,  and  over  the  mountain  by  a  winding  path, 
the  writer  might  have  been  seen,  with  wife  and  babe  about  thirteen 
months  old,  wending  his  way  up  the  side  of  a  steep  mountain,  on  a 
beautiful  Sabbath  morning,  the  10th  day  of  August.  We  arrived  at 
the  place  of  worship  before  any  of  the  members  who  lived  neaf 


24  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

made  their  appearance.  As  they  dropped  in,  one  after  another, 
they  greeted  the  strangers  with  a  hearty  welcome,  incLuiring,  of 
course,  if  we  were  Baptists.  The  facts  being  stated,  the  welcomes 
became  more  cordial  than  before,  and  conversation  on  religious  sub- 
jects occupied  the  time  till  the  pastor  arrived,  which,  according  to 
usage,  was  rather  late.  This  was  Elder  Hermon  Harvey,  who  was 
a  descendant  of  a  Baptist  generation  of  that  name.  His  father  was 
Deacon  Obed  Harvey.  The  family,  I  think,  was  originally  from 
Rhode  Island,  but  at  a  later  period  from  "  Nine  Partners,"  in  Dutch- 
ess county.  Elder  Harvey  was  a  person  of  middle  size  and  stature, 
between  thirty  and  thirty-five  years  of  age.  He  was  a  plain,  com- 
mon-place preacher,  studious  in  the  Scriptures,  mild  in  temper,  and,- 
like  other  Baptist  preachers  at  that  period,  worked  a  farm,  received 
casual  contributions  from  the  brethren,  and  was  quite  as  self-deny- 
ing, and  devoted  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  as  the  men  of  modern 
times.  I  suppose  he  is  still  living,  though  he  must  be  quite  ad- 
vanced in  hve.  I  met  him  for  the  last  time  at  the  Eenspelaerville 
Association,  in  1842. 

The  brethren  introduced  us  to  the  pastor  before  Ke  had  time  to 
take  his  seat  by  the  rough  table  that  served  for  the  pulpit,  behind 
which  he  stood  to  preach  the  gospel  to  an  attentive  congregation. 
By  that  time  we  were  made  acquainted  with  every  Baptist  and  some 
other  persons  within  the  house.  In  this  mode  of  reception  there 
was  nothing  new  or  s'range  with  the  plain,  country  Baptist  congre- 
gations at  that  period  in  New  York  State.  There  was  much  of  fra- 
ternal feeling  and  social  hospitality.  Those  who  came  from  a -dis- 
tance were  provided  with  refreshments  by  those  who  lived  near. 
Their  attire  was  plain  homespun  garments,  put  on  clean  and  tidy 
for  the  Sabbath,  and  worn  by  laboring  men  and  women  through  the 
week.  Generally,  the  people  were  in  straitened  circumstances.  If 
any  vehicles  brought  the  family  to  meetings,  they  were  plain,  rough, 
farming  wagons.  Men,  women,  and  children,  often  walked  three  or 
four  miles.  In  one  thing  they  had  the  advantage  of  the  present 
generation.  Neither  custom,  fashion,  pride,  nor  luxury,  compelled 
them  to  pay  heavy  taxes  for  the  benefit  of  their  neighbors'  eyes. 
In  this  manner  was  I  first  introduced  to  the  Baptists  of  York  State. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  1811,  accompanied  by  my  wife  and 
child,  we  were  again  cUmbing  the  mountain  range,  to  the  same  place 
of  meeting  mentioned  above.  It  was  on  Saturday ;  for  once  in  three 
months  the  regular  covenant  meetings  of  New  Durham  church  were 
held  on  the  mountain.  This  time  we  carried  a  small  bundle  of  light 
clothing.     A  great  question  of  practical  duty  in  -obedience  to  Jesus 


CHURCH    EXA^UNAT10N    OF   CANDIDATES.  25 

Christ  had  been  settled  for  many  months,  and  the  opportunity  liad 
arrived  when  it  could  be  carried  out  practically.  Let  not  our  read- 
ers express  surprise  at  two  persons,  in  early  life,  wdth  a  lusty  infant, 
and  a  bundle  of  clothing,  walking  five  or  six  miles  over  a  high  moun- 
tain to  a  church  meeting.  The  young  men  and  women  of  that  day 
were  hardy,  robust,  and  thought  no  more  of  a  walk,  than  some  of 
the  present  effeminate  race  do  of  lolling  in  the  easy-chair,  or  on  the 
lounge. 

They  breathed  the  pnre,  reviving  air, 

That's  born  upon  the  mountains  high  ; 
They  saw  health's  roseate  offspring  there, 

And  hope  beamed  bright  from  every  eye. 

The  membeis  of  the  church  assembled,  and  the  customary  greet- 
ings and  hearty  expressions  of  Christian  affection  passed  around. 
The  pastor  made  his  appearance,  and  after  giving  out  a  hymn  from 
Watts,  and  repeating  the  hues,  all  the  brethren  sung  it  who  had  the 
least  pretensions  to  the  gift  of  modulating  the  voice  in  harmony; 
and  a  prayer  was  offered,  in  which  every  member  present  joined  with 
sincere  devotion.  The  pastor  then  introduced  the  old  custom  of  "  re- 
newing covenant"  by  all  the  members,  male  and  female,  giving  an 
expression  of  their  feelings,  and  their  trials,  their  hopes,  aspirations. 
and  joys,  during  the  past  month.  All  spoke  with  frankness  and  ap- 
parent sincerity.  The  "  door  was  opened"  to  hear  "  experiences  of 
grace"  from  others ;  and  the  writer  and  his  companion  gave  a  nar- 
rative of  their  conviction  of  sin  and  their  gracious  dehverance  that 
had  occurred  nearly  four  years  previous.  His  union  with  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  and  being  the  subject  of  a  ceremony  that  was 
regarded  at  the  time  as  a  substitute  for  Christian  baptism  by  that 
sect,  W'Cre,  of  course,  narrated.  This  ceremony  consisted  not  in 
pouring,  nor  in  sprinkling  water  on  the  subject,  but  in  the  minister 
dipping  the  tip?  of  his  fingers  in  a  basin  of  water  and  gently  touch- 
ing the  forehead. 

Questions  then  were  propounded  by  the  pastor,  and  opportunity 
was  given  for  each  member  of  the  church  to  question  the  candidate 
on  pomts  of  doctrine  and  experience.  Far  more  pains  were  taken 
in  the  examination  of  candidates  for  baptism  and  membership  in 
all  our  churches,  than  in  this  "  fast  age."  Churches  moved  slow  ; 
and  it  was  no  unusual  occurrence  for  candidates,  after  the  hearing 
of  their  relation,  to  be  advised  to  wait  for  one  or  more  months. 
Apostasies  were  rare ;  church  discipline  was  strict — far  more  so 
than  at  present ;  and  excommunications  less,  in  proportion  to  bap- 
tisms, in  all  the  churches. 
3 


2g  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

At  tlie  close  of  the  public  exercises  at  the  school-house,  every 
person  in  the  congregation  walked  half  a  mile  to  a  clear,  beautiful, 
mountain  stream,  of  sufficient  depth,  hid  away  in  a  romantic  dell, 
■where  the  two  candidates  put  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  made  • 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King  of  Zion,  in  the  Scriptural  form 
of  administration. 

After  the  customary  intermission,  in  which  the  hospitable  breth- 
ren and  neighbors  vied  with  each  other  in  providing  refreshments 
for  all  who  came  from  a  distance,  the  members  of  the  church,  with 
a  few  spectators,  repaired  again  to  the  school-house,  where,  after  a 
brief  address  from  the  pastor,  the  Supper  of  the  Lord  was  celebrated. 

The  day  was  remarkably  pleasant,  and  a  large  concourse  of  people 
assembled  to  witness  the  baptisms.  The  countenances  of  all  wore 
a  solemn  aspect,  and  the  utmost  regularity  and  good  order  was  ob- 
served by  every  individual  present. 

Commencement  of  the  Ministry— Suggestions  on  the  Christian 
Ministry. 

On  Saturday,  the  12th  of  October,  1811,  the  Durham  church  held 
its  covenant-meeting  in  the  Union  School-house,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  mountains.    This  was  in  the  Harvey  Settlement. 

On  our  first  acquaintance  with  the  members  of  this  church,  even 
before  receiving  baptism,  nearly  every  male  member  had  had  con- 
versation with  us  on  what  appeared  to  the  writer  a  momentous 
question.  "  Don't  you  think  you  ought  to  preach  the  gospel  ?"  was 
seriously  asked  in  every  instance  of  private  conversation.  The 
pastor,  in  particular,  was  too  inquisitive  to  permit  an  evasive  an- 
swer. How  these  brethren,  who  were  entire  strangers,  till  within 
the  last  two  months,  came  to  entertain  such  surmisings,  I.  could 
not  guess. 

It  was  a  fact  known  only  to  the  waiter,  that,  from  the  first  hour  that 
he  indulged  a  hope  of  pardoning  mercy,  this  subject  lay  with  weight 
on  his  mind,  which  at  times  was  fearfully  oppressive.  Every  excuse 
had  been  put  to  his  conscience,  and  yet  he  found  no  relief.  The 
only  periods  of  rest  were  those  of  backslidings  in  heart,  and  accom- 
panied with  doubts  of  his  title  to  the  divine  promises.  And  as  the 
period  of  his  baptism  drew  nigh,  the  pressure  of  duty  returned. 
During  the  past  month,  since  his  consecration  to  Christ  by  baptism, 
the  question  of  his  duty  to  preach  the  gospel  had  become  quite  agi- 
tating. Still,  had  the  brethren,  and  especially  the  pastor,  not  men- 
tioned it,  probably  the  subject  would  have  remained  for  a  much 
longer  time  a  private  grief. 


BEGINS   PREACHING.  27 

Before  the  church  came  to  order,  two  or  three  of  the  brethren, 
with  the  pastor,  urged  a  disclosure  of  my  feelings  to  the  brother- 
hood. When  it  came  to  my  turn  to  speak,  as  was  then  customary, 
T  gave  a  statement  of  my  views  and  feehngs  on  preaching  the  gospel, 
and  of  the  trials  I  had  experienced  for  nearly  four  years  on  that 
subject,  and  thus  submitted  the  matter  to  the  church,  desiring  them 
to  judge  prayerfully  and  impartially  what  they  considered  my  duty, 
and  left  the  hou^  e.  In  a  few  minutes  a  brother  called  me  in,  when 
I  learned  the  church  had  voted  to  have  me  "improve  my  gift,"  as 
they  expressed  it,  within  their  limits,  until  they  gained  evidence  of 
my  call  to,  and  qualifications  for,  the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry. 
They  also  voted  that  I  conduct  the  meeting,  and  speak  to  the  con 
gregation  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day.  All  this,  I  learned  after- 
wards, was  in  accordance  with  the  old  Baptist  practice,  especially  in 
country  churches.  I  was  not  Vvholly  unprepared.  At  various  times, 
m  seasons  of  thoughtfulness  and  study,  I  had  drawn  out  plans  of 
discourses  from  texts  of  Scripture.  One  subject  had  primary  place 
in  my  thoughts  and  affections  :  that  of  Christian  missions,  or  preach- 
ing the  gospel  to  every  creature. 

Next  day,  in  presence  of  a  crowded  congregation,  I  made  my 
first  essay  in  speaking  from  a  text.  This  was  Mark  xvi.  15  :  "And 
he  said  unto  them,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature."  At  the  close,  I  thought  that  no  temptation  or 
despondency  would  ever  cause  me  to  doubt  the  Divine  mission,  but 
one  week  had  not  passed  away  without  sore  trials  on  this  question. 
I  have  given  this  sketch  of  personal  history  to  call  the  attention 
of  readers  to  the  old  practice  in  Baptist  churches,  of  praying  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  to  thrust  forth  laborers,  and  especially  the  anxi- 
ety and  restlessness  of  the  brethren  in  finding  out  who  had  the 
*'  call"  and  the  "  gift." 

I  have  not  a  word  to  object  against  the  efforts  made  to  look  out 
and  educate  young  men  who  give  evidence  of  the  gifts  and  graces 
indispensable  to  the  ministry,  but  the  great  and  serious  mistake 
consists  in  the  following  particulaj-s  : 

1.  In  fixing  the  impression  on  the  churches,  that  young  men,  and 
none  hut  young  men,  are  to  be  looked  for  in  relation  to  that  ofiSce. 
Nothing  is  said  about  men  with  famiUes,  and  settled  in  business, 
becoming  preachers.  This  omission  has  done  the  mischief,  until 
what  was  once  most  common  has  become  a  rare  exception. 

2.  That  these  young  men  must  \>q  first  educated,  all  to  the  same 
extent,  and  in  the  same  school,  in  classical  Hterature,  science,  and 
theolog\'.     Many  men,  in  some  parts  of  our  country,  and  in  other 


28  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

countries  where  the  gospel  is  preached  and  Baptist  churches  exist, 
by  self-tuition,  under  the  guidance  of  ministers  of  experience,  with- 
out a  classical  and  scientific  education,  become  qualified  for  the  min- 
istry. They  make  useful  and  successful  pastors  and  evangelists,  by 
the  thorough  training  they  get  in  the  Word  of  God,  by  personal 
eff"orts  and  constant  practice.  They  learn  to  preach  the  gospel  with 
power  and  success,  and  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  Christian  pastor, 
or  the  itinerating  evangelist,  though  they  may  learn  little  else. 

3.  That  no  others  but  yoimg  men,  thus  educated,  will  answer  for 
pastors  in  the  churches. 

All  these  exceptionable  notions  have  been  borrowed  from  the 
Calvinistic  Puritans  within  the  last  thirty  years,  and  no  more  fit 
Baptists  for  the  work  they  have  to  do  than  Saul's  armor  suited  the 
stripling  David.  Do  the  Baptists  in  "  York  State"  look  among  their 
enterprising  men  of  thirty  or  forty  years,  or  even  amongst  obscure 
members  of  strong  common-sense  and  ripe  experience,  for  the  ma- 
terials of  their  ministry  ?  Has  the  instance  occurred  at  meetings 
on  ministerial  education,  among  the  agents,  lecturers,  and  other 
speakers,  urging  the  churches  to  look  for  ministerial  gifts  from  any 
other  class  than  young  men  ?  Is  there  evidence  of  an^^  such  anxi- 
ety and  persevering  effort  in  the  churches  throughout  the  State,  to 
learn  the  private  feelings  and  convictions  of  duty,  as  the  members 
of  the  httle  mountain  church  of  Durham  showed  towards  an  indi- 
vidual, who  two  months  previous  came  amongst  them  a  stranger  ? 
This  course  was  not  singular  or  unusual  in  Baptist  churches  at  that 
period  in  "York  State." 

Nor,  with  all  their  eagerness  and  anxiety  to  look  out  for  ministe- 
rial gifts,  were  they  hasty  and  inconsiderate  in  acknowledging  them. 
The  church  first  voted  to  invite  the  writer  to  exercise  his  "  gift"— 
whatever  it  might  be — within  its  own  limits.  In  about  three  months 
they  extended  the  limits  to  neighboring  churches.  In  the  spring 
of  1812,  being  about  to  make  a  journey  to  Connecticut,  the  last  was 
recalled  and  a  new  one  given,  but  still  in  the  phraseology  of  the 
Northern  churches  the  expression  was  :  "  Liberty  to  improve  his 
gift  wherever  Divine  Providence  might  open  the  door."  This  was 
no  license  to  officiate,  and  to  pass  as  a  regular  minister  of  the  gospel, 
but  only  to  exercise  such  gifts  as  the  person  possessed.  Nor  did 
the  writer  ever  receive  any  other  license  imtil  after  his  ordination. 
And  why  should  men  be  Hcensed  as  ministers  of  the  gospel  until, 
by  a  suitable  probation,  they  give  evidence  of  the  "  call,"  the  "  gift," 
and  the  qualifications  for  that  office  ?  Why  hold  a  brother  up  to  the 
world  as  designed  for  a  "  sacred  profession,"  until  it  is  known  that 


BAPTIST    USAGES.  29 

ne  is  fitted  for  that  profession,  and  has  evinced  a  settled  determina- 
tion to  enter  the  ministry  and  abide  in  it,  either  as  a  pastor  or  an 
evangelist.  If  he  has  the  gift  and  grace  of  a  true  minister  of  Christ, 
he  will  make  that  the  paramount  business  of  Ufe.  To  use  a  Western 
figure,  attributed  to  the  eccentric  Crockett,  "  He  will  stand  up  to  the 
rack,  fodder  or  no  fodder."  If  he  has  the  gift  and  enterprise  that 
is  characteristic  of  Christ's  ministers,  he  will  not  wait  till  a  church 
call  htm,  but  go  into  some  destitute  field,  sustain  himself  and  family 
by  his  own  industry,  and  proceed  to  call  a  church,  as  many  of  our 
old  pioneer  preachers  have  done. 

At  the  church  meeting  last  mentioned,  when  the  writer  made  his 
first  essay  in  preaching  the  gospel,  a  messenger  to  the  Kensselaer- 
ville  Association  had  to  be  appointed  to  fill  a  vacancy,  and  the  new 
member  was  chosen.  I  use  the  old  term.  Messenger,  which  is  the 
correct  word  to  be  employed,  to  designate  all  persons  sent  on  errands 
by  the  churches.  Baptist  churches  cannot,  transfer  to  individual 
members,  or  through  them  convey  to  associations,  conventions, 
councils,  or  any  other  body  of  man's  contrivance,  delegated  or 
representative  power.  Hence  the  tendency  to  unscriptural  notions 
and  practices  in  calling  things  by  wrong  names.  Messenger  was 
the  old  Baptist  term,  when  it  was  understood  that  Baptist  churches 
could  not  be  represented. 

This  body  contained  fifteen  churches,  when  the  session  for  1811 
closed,  and  thirteen  ordained  ministers.  Total  number  of  members 
eleven  hundred  and  thirty-one.  It  had  been  a  season  of  dearth  for 
a  long  time.  Only  two  churches  indicated  any  thing  like  a  revival 
the  preceding  year. 

Elder  John  Winans  was  elected  Moderator,  and  Deacon  Nathaniel 
Jacobs,  Sr.,  Clerk. 

On  the  second  day,  Elder  Wayland,  Sr.,  preached  from  2  Cor.  iv.  15 ; 
and,  after  an  intermission  for  refreshments.  Elder  Pettit  gave  a  dis- 
course from  John  x,  27,  28.  No  collections  were  taken  for  philan- 
thropic purposes  ;  nothing  w-as  said  about  missions,  or  even  pro- 
viding preaching  for  the  destitute.  South  and  west,  within  the 
reach  of  this  Association,  was  quite  a  destitute  region,  and  the  people 
lived  in  small  settlements,  separated  from  each  other,  through  the 
valleys  and  mountain  gorges.  For  the  churches  entirely  destitute 
of  pastoral  visitations,  monthly  visits  were  volunteered  b^'-  the  Elders. 
The  church  of  Rensselaerville  and  Coeymans,  of  thirty  members, 
and  the  church  of  Catskili,  of  thirty-two  members,  were  thus  sup- 
plied monthly. 


30  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK 


CHAPTER    ITL 

Preacliing  in  Catskill — Ordination — Labors  and  Efforts  for  Self-im 
provement — Illness — Necessity  for  Removal. 

A  SHORT  time  after  the  events  above  narrated,  Mr.  Peck, 
having  received  a  full  letter  of  license  to  preach  the  gospel 
from  the  church  at  New  Durham,  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
and  having  frequently  exercised  his  gift  where  the  providence 
of  God  opened  the  way  before  him,  was  invited  to  visit  the 
little  Baptist  church  in  Catskill,  the  county-seat  of  Green 
county.  He  found  here  a  few  brethren  and  sisters,  neither 
united  nor  enterprising,  and  continued  occasionally  to  visit 
them  till  the  spring  of  1812. 

His  family  were  then  absent  on  a  visit  to  his  native  Litch- 
field, Ct.,  and  on  his  way  to  see  them  he  passed  a  day  or  two 
in  Catskill,  and  was  encouraged  to  make  arrangements  to 
remove  there,  keep  a  school  for  his  support,  and  preach  for 
the  little  Baptist  church  when  they  had  no  other  supply.  They 
had  no  house  of  worship,  but  met  in  private  dwellings,  and 
sometimes  in  the  old  court-house.  They  proffered  no  salary ; 
but  whoever  preached  for  them  on  the  Sabbath  received  the 
amount  of  the  penny  collection.  This  he  was  careful  to  note 
in  his  journal ;  and  the  amount  was  less  than  an  average  of 
one  dollar  a  week,  though  he  ordinarily  preached  three  or  four 
times.  But  he  loved  the  work  rather  than  the  wages,  and 
therefore  made  no  objection  to  these  arrangements.  His  diary 
at  this  period  breathes  a  pure  and  excellent  spirit.  •  Indeed  one 
cannot  read  it  without  being  deeply  impressed  with  the  fer- 
vency of  his  devotedness  to  God  his  Saviour,  and  a  deep 
abiding  sense  of  his  dependence  on  him.  It  would  be  easy  to 
fill  many  pages  with  extracts  breathing  most  fervent  desires 
for  entire  conformity  to  Christ,  and  the  priiitin>:,'s  of  intense 
Bolicitude  to  be  made  useful  to  the  souls  of  his  fellow  men 


STATISTICS   AND   JOURNEYS.  31 

At  the  end  of  March,  1812,  the  following  entry  appears  in 
his  journal,  which  is  interesting  as  indicating  how  early  he 
became  imbued  with  a  desire  for  preserving  accurate  statistics. 
They  are  the  beginnings  of  what  proved  in  his  life  a  mighty 
aggregate  of  such  gathered,  accurate  facts. 

I  find  by  enumeration  that  in  course  of  my  past  life  I  have  had 
the  privilege  of  hearing  twenty-four  Baptist  preachers  improve, 
many  of  them  repeatedly.  Fifteen  of  them  I  heard  in  Connecticut, 
the  other  nine  since  I  removed  to  this  State.  [N.Y.]  I  have  seen 
besides  myself  and  wife  three  persons  baptized,  all  of  Litchfield,  Ct. 
Seven  times  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  communing  since  I  joined 
the  Baptists.  [Here  follow  the  names  of  the  preachers.]  In  Con- 
necticut, Eufus  Babcock,  Sr.,  Isaac  Bellows,  Asa  Tallmadge,  Ben- 
jamin Baldwin,  Jesse  Hartwell,  Asa  Niles,  Samuel  Miller,  Henry 
Green,  Joshua  Bradly,  John  Sherman,  Asahel  Morse,  Isaac  Fuller, 
OHver  Tuttie,  Wilson  and  Joseph  Graves.  In  New  York,  Joseph 
Arnold,  Herman  Hervey,  Hezekiah  Pettit,  Orlando  Mack,  Francis 
Wayland,  Sr.,  James  Mackey,  Levi  Streeter,  Wm.  Stewart,  and 
Josiah  Baker.* 

I  have  attended  nine  monthly  church  meetings,  and  five  extra 
church  meetings,  in  cases  of  discipline ;  have  voted  for  the  exclu 
sion  of  two  members ;  also  have  attended  one  Association  and  one 
General  Conference  ;  and  have  myself  tried  to  preach  twenty-seven 
times. 

The  following  month  he  visited  his  family  in  Litchfield  on 
foot,  stopping  after  a  weary  walk  each  day  w^here  he  could 
preach  the  gospel  to  those  hungering  for  the  bread  of  life.  The 
journey  and  the  visit  occupied  two  or  three  weeks,  in  which 
he  traveled  chiefly  afoot  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  miles, 
and  preached  fifteen  times.  His  old  neighbors  had  not  seen 
him  since  the  change  of  his  ecclesiastical  relations,  and,  on 
the  whole,  rigid  Pedobaptists  as  most  of  them  w^ere,  they 
seem  to  have  received  him  and  treated  him  with  as  much 

*  Most  of  these  men  were  personally  known  to  me,  as  humble, 
unleainied,  and  self-sustained  ministers  of  Christ.  Some  toiling  on 
their  little  farms,  others  in  their  shops,  that  they  might  preach 
Christ,  and  administer  his  ordinances,  where  otherwise  they  could 
not  have  been  enjoyed.     Their  record  is  on  high. — Editok. 


32  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

respect  and  affection  as  could  have  reasonably  been  expected. 
The  Congregational  church  in  Litchfield  South  Farms  still 
claimed  him  as  their  member,  since  he  had  never  sought  a 
dissolution  of  his  covenant-engagement  to  walk  with  them ; 
and  they  now  insisted  on  their  right  and  duty  to  discipline 
him.  They  stated  to  him  that  what  they  had  against  him 
was  neither  scandal,  nor  heresy,  nor  even  his  renouncing  their 
sentiments  and  joining  the  Baptists ;  but  for  leaving  them  before 
giving  them  a  hearing — thus  virtually  excluding  them  without 
giving  them  an  opportunity  to  defend  themselves — and,  if 
they  could,  to  reclaim  him.  The  case  came  before  their 
church,  where  he  was  regularly  arraigned,  and  the  parties 
impleaded  one  another.  His  defence  was  in  brief  this :  ho 
did  not  deny  that  it  was  his  dutj^  to  make  the  effort  for  re- 
claiming them  from  what  he  regarded  their  error  in  reference 
to  baptism.  But  according  to  the  rules  of  the  gospel  he  must 
first  reform  himself,  by  being  baptized,  and  then  endeavor  to 
reform  them,  which  he  was  now  willing  to  attempt,  both  by 
precept  and  example  ;  by  Scripture  argument  and  the  alluring 
act  itself — the  best  of  all  arguments.  In  brief  he  found,  as 
he  thought,  himself  and  his  brethren  in  a  practical  error,  con- 
sisting in  the  neglect  of  the  believer's  first  duty — baptism. 
Hence  he  deemed  it  his  duty  first  to  reform  himself,  and  then 
endeavor  to  reclaim  his  erring  brethren.  To  which  his  op- 
ponent, Esq.  Morris,  replied  that  it  was  a  principle  applicable 
to  all  associated  bodies,  that  one  who  had  entered  into  a  vol- 
untary covenant  engagement  should  not  abandon  his  associ- 
ates without  at  least  giving  them  fair  notice,  or  asking  leave  ; 
that  it  was  unmanly  to  do  so. 

There  was  perhaps  an  element  of  truth  in  the  positions  of 
each  ;  and  to  the  praise  of  the  candor  and  forbearance  of  the 
church  it  should  be  stated,  that  when  they  could  not  bring 
their  delinquent  brother  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  done 
wrong  by  leaving  them  in  the  way  he  did,  they  did  not 
harshly  and  summarily  excommunicate  him,  but  laid  the  case 
over,  from  April  to  September,  exhorting  him  meanwhile  to 
consider  their  expostulations.     How  much  better  and  more 


NEIGHBORLY    INTERCOURSE.  66 

Christian-like  was  this  than  severer  measures  and  an  unlovely 
spirit  which  churches  not  in  ecclesiastical  fellowship  with  each 
other  often  evince.  Their  personal  relations  and  their  Chris- 
tian intercourse  through  it  all  remained  unbroken ;  and  finally, 
some  dozen  years  later,  they  invited  him  to  preach  in  their 
meeting-house,  thus  virtually  canceling  their  slight  censure. 
Whenever  he  visited  his  native  town,  all  classes  gathered 
around  him  with  a  loving  and  fraternal  interest,  and  on  the 
occasion  of  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  organization  of 
the  county  in  the  summer  of  1851,  he  was  invited  by  the 
committee — almost  exclusively  Pedobaptists — to  take  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  interesting  public  services.  But  Harvard 
University  had  before  this  time  honored  him  with  one  of  its 
highest  badges  of  distinction ;  and  Litchfield  might  well  be 
proud  of  a  son,  who  had  reflected  more  honor  on  his  birth- 
place than  she  could  now  confer  on  him. 

The  summer  of  1812  found  him  diligently  plying  his  double 
duties  in  Catskill.  His  school  flourished  and  yielded  him 
and  his  little  family  the  amount  of  support  which  their  fru- 
gality and  industry  made  suflice.  His  preaching  was  pretty 
regularly  continued,  and  somewhat  extended — wherever  most 
urgently  demanded — in  the  regions  around.  He  frequently 
visited  Hudson  ;  and  before  the  end  of  this  year  found  in  the 
excellent  pastor  of  that  church.  Rev.  Hei^ifey  Jenks,  a  neighbor 
of  congenial  and  truly  fraternal  spirit.  This  excellent  man — 
alas,  so  early  cut  down  by  death — was  a  recent  graduate  of 
Brown  University  ;  for  a  short  time  had  been  preceptor  of  its 
grammar-school  in  Providence ;  and  having  enjoyed  ample 
opportunities  of  intellectual  and  religious  culture,  was  able  to 
impart  to  the  young  licentiate  in  close  proximity  just  the 
assistance  in  his  earnest  endeavors  for  self-improvement  for 
which  he  was  noAv  panting. 

Yery  instructive  and  delightful  it  is  to  trace  the  benign 
influence  which  was  thus  exerted  on  the  young  licentiate's 
mind.  His  reading,  study,  and  labor,  henceforth  assume  a 
higher  and  worthier  aim  ;  and  the  results  were  speedily  mani- 
fest.    Their  correspondence  too  was  frequent,  animated  and, 


oi  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

to  Mr.  Peck,  very  improving,  though  they  were  located  but 
six  miles  apart,  and  saw  each  other  very  frequently.  But 
their  full  hearts  could  not  wait  for  the  expected  Saturday 
interview,  and  hence  those  exercises  of  the  pen  which  still 
remain,  a  memorial  as  beautiful  and  fragrant  as  the  record  of 
the  union  of  David  and  Jonathan. 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  Porter,  also,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  Catskill,  a  man  of  some  peculiarities,  but  able,  and 
generally  of  genial  and  catholic  spirit,  Mr.  Peck  experienced 
many  courtesies  adapted  to  promote  his  improvement.  They 
attended  funerals  together,  and  listened  to  each  other's  exercises 
frequently.  Mr.  Peck,  as  the  younger  and  less  improved  of 
the  two,  would  be  likely  to  receive  the  greater  benefit  in  this 
intercourse.  Occasional  entries  in  his  journal  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  he  thought  the  Doctor  rather  marred  than  im- 
proved, by  his  deep  tinge  of  Hopkinsianism,  and  a  pretty 
plain  implication  is  furnished  that  the  strong  and  undiluted 
Calvinism  of  Dr.  Chester,  of  Hudson,  was  more  to  his  taste. 
Honorable  mention  is  also  made  of  the  family  of  Judge  Day, 
of  Catskill,  to  whose  hospitalities  he  seems  to  have  been  cor- 
dially welcomed  ;  and  when  they  were  in  deep  affliction,  and 
their  own  pastor.  Dr.  Porter,  was  either  absent  or  indisposed, 
Mr.  Peck  Avas  invited  to  officiate,  and  in  all  respects  was 
treated  with  a  marked  degree  of  deference  and  esteem.  Such 
traces,  honorable  alike  to  the  givers  and  receiver,  are  the  more 
noticeable  and  deserving  of  commendation  on  the  part  of  the 
Presbyterians,  from  the  fact  that  the  Baptists  were  making 
inroads  upon  them  continually.  In  his  circumstances,  having 
recently  come  out  from  a  Pedobaptist  communion,  the  ordi- 
nance of  baptism  was  very  likely  to  occupy  a  prominent  place 
in  his  thoughts,  his  conversation,  and  his  public  ministry.  In 
his  diary  he  thus  notices  the  first  administration  of  baptism 
the  month  after  he  commenced  preaching  in  Catskill,  and  a 
year  before  his  own  ordination  : 

Lord's  Day,  21st  Jane,  1812. — In  the  forenoon  Elder  Hervey  being 
with  us  preached  from  Isaiah  xxxv.  8.  Afterward  we  repaired  to 
the  river  side,  where  prayea-  is  wont  to  be  made,  and  after  a  short 


A   BAPTISM    WITNESSED.  35 

but  appropriate  address  by  the  administrator  the  two  young  candi- 
dates were  baptized  in  water — a  beautiful  emblem  of  Christ's  death, 
burial,  and  resurrection.  Such  an  interesting  scene  I  never  before 
beheld.  The  situation  of  the  place,  the  devout  attention  of  a  large 
audience,  the  tears  discovered  trickling  down  the  cheeks  of  many, 
together  with  the  solemnity  of  the  ordinance  itself,  seemed  deeply 
to  impress  my  mind  with  a  profound  sense  of  the  propriety  of 
strict  adherence  to  apostolic  precedent  in  the  administration  of 
baptism.  At  the  close  of  the  afternoon  service,  when  the  baptized 
had  been  welcomed  into  the  fellowship  of  the  church,  I  presented 
my  letter  of  dismission  from  Durham  church ;  and  after  relating 
my  experience,  was  admitted  to  this  church,  and  we  had  a  precious 
season  around  the  Lord's  table.  Truly  we  might  say  it  was  a  feast 
of  fat  things,  and  the  Lord  was  sensibly  present  with  us.  At  six 
o'clock  I  preached  at  Brother  Hill's  house.  Had  a  comfortable 
time ;  and  after  meeting,  an  aged  gentleman  came  forward  and  re- 
lated what  the  Lord  had  done  for  him,  desiring  to  join  with  us,  and 
was  fellowshipped.  In  the  morning,  the  youth  forsake  the  vanities 
of  the  world,  and  profess  to  be  dead  to  sin  and  alive  to  God.  In 
the  evening,  the  aged  wish  to  enter  on  the  service  of  the  Lord,  and 
go  into  the  vineyard  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

Well  might  he  subjoin :  "I  never  experienced  such  a  day 
before."  Then  follows  an  affecting  expression  of  his  sense  of 
great  responsibility  in  ministering  to  that  little  church,  now 
happily — and  by  the  aid  of  an  advisory  council  called  in  part 
at  his  instance — reconciled  and  walking  in  love.  He  was  now 
employed  in  feeding  the  lambs  of  the  flock  with  the  sincere 
milk  of  the  word,  that  they  might  grow  thereby ;  in  guiding 
inquirers  to  the  Lamb  of  God  ;  and  again  in  meeting  the 
wants  of  others  who  were  tried  about  baptism  and  wanted 
light  to  guide  them.  Similar  exercises  and  successes  con- 
tinue to  be  noted  till  the  end  of  the  year.  By  a  careful  devote- 
ment  of  all  his  spare  hours  when  out  of  school,  to  self-im- 
provement and  to  preparation  for  preaching,  he  was  rapidly 
advancing  in  grace  and  knowledge.  Soon  after  the  end  of 
his  first  year  in  Catskill,  the  following  summary  appears  of 
his  entire  course  of  ministrations,  with  all  which  he  had  re- 
ceived in  pecuniary  recompense.  He  had  preached  in  all  174 
times,  viz. :  in  Durham  and  vicinity,  42  times ;  in  Litchfield,  Ct. 


36  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

16  times ;  in  Hudson,  9  times ;  in  Madison  (a  little  village 
contiguous  to  his  residence  in  Catskill),  15  times ;  and  in 
Catskill,  92  times.  He  had  also  attended  23  monthly  church 
meetings,  and  T  on  special  business ;  attended  13  funerals, 
2  associations,  and  1  general  conference.  Had  received  as  a 
compensation  for  preaching,  as  follows  :  Litchfield,  $116  cts.; 
in  Hudson,  $4  12icts.;  in  Catskill,  $15  88  cts.;  in  Madison, 
$21  87  cts.  By  subscription,  presents,  and  otherwise,  $18  92 
cts.,  or  $61  95  cts.  in  all.  He  enters  no  complaint,  and  appar- 
ently feels  no  grievance  that  his  work  was  not  more  ade- 
quately remunerated. 

The  church  in  Catskill,  at  the  end  of  his  first  year's  resi- 
dence and  service  with  them,  invited  him  to  be  ordained  ;  and 
a  council  was  called  for  that  purpose,  which  met  June  9, 
1813.  The  Presbyterian  church  was  cordially  proffered  and 
accepted  for  the  services,  and  Dr.  Porter  was  invited  to  sit  and 
dine  with  the  council,  which  he  did.  After  the  usual  examin- 
ation, which  was  deemed  satisfactory,  the  ordination  sermon 
and  right-hand  of  fellowship  were  by  his  neighbor  and  beloved 
brother,  Rev.  Hervey  Jenks.  Other  principal  parts  were  per- 
formed by  Elders  Stewart,  Streeter,  Mack,  Hervey,  and 
Pettit.  All  the  services  were  appropriate  and  solemn,  and 
were  listened  to  with  lively  interest  by  a  large  congregation. 

The  next  Sabbath  he  baptized  several  candidates,  and  ad- 
ministered the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  within  a  week  ofiiciated 
at  his  first  marriage,  of  which  he  has  given  us  the  written 
form  which  he  adopted,  and  the  amount  of  fee  (one  dollar) 
which  was  tendered  him.  Thus  was  he  very  fully  inducted 
into  all  the  functions  of  the  ministerial  office. 

His  internal  trials  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  seem  some- 
times to  have  been  severe  and  protracted.  But  he  learned 
gradually  that  for  all  these  seasons  of  darkness  and  depression 
there  was  an  adequate  cause,  physical  or  moral,  and  he  be- 
came an  adept  in  this  species  of  pathology,  and  by  carefully 
securing  a  correct  diagnosis  of  his  own  soul,  he  was  the 
better  prepared  to  minister  successfully  to  the  spiritual  mala- 
dies, or  the  morbid  imas-inations  of  others.     Those  who  have 


EXPERIENCES — PLANS — MISSIONARY  SPIRIT.  37 

only  kno^m  him  in  the  last  half  of  his  public  life-^-who  have 
seen  his  spirits  so  buoyant  and  his  disposition  so  equable, 
would  scarcely  expect  to  find  in  his  early  years  such  evi- 
dences as  his  journal  discloses  of  a  spirit  so  widely  dissimilar. 
This  morbid  succession  of  heights  and  depths  he  learned  to 
estimate  more  correctly  as  he  advanced  to  maturity.  These 
pages  might  be  filled  with  the  record  of  them,  but  they  are  not 
in  harmony  with  his  maturer  judgment,  and  will  therefore  be 
passed  over.  So,  too,  of  the  somewhat  profuse  recording  of 
his  pious  resolutions  very  formally  adopted  on  frequent  occa- 
sions of  self-examination,  for  the  first  few  years  of  his  public 
life,  he  early  became  apparently  ashamed,  and  his  practice  in 
this  respect  changed  from  about  the  time  of  his  ordination. 
His  determination  to  do  his  duty  to  God  and  to  his  fellow  men, 
to  the  very  best  and  utmost  of  his  ability,  became  more  and 
more  strong  and  equable,  and  would — so  he  thought — be  more 
impeded  and  distracted  than  benefited  by  a  superabundance 
of  abstract  rules  and  resolutions  previously  adopted. 

At  one  period  he  had  minutely  mapped  out  his  whole  time, 
giving  a  specific  appropriation  of  duties  to  every  hour.  But 
the  necessary  interruptions  and  variations  to  which  a  pastor's 
and  teacher's  life  in  such  a  population  as  here  surrounded  him, 
is  necessarily  exposed,  made  adherence  to  this  plan  practically 
impossible.  Pastors  will  in  the  end  very  generally  come  to 
adopt  Dr.  Payson's  apothegm  :  "  The  man  who  wants  me  is 
the  man  I  want."  The  duty  now  most  urgently  pressing  must 
first  be  met,-dcspite  all  abstract  rules. 

Th^  first  indication  of  the  missionary  spirit  which  so  thor 
oughly  pervaded  his  subsequent  life  is  found  in  his  diary  a 
few  weeks  subsequent  to  his  ordination ;  and  in  consideration 
of  its  wide-reaching  and  healthful  results,  it  deserves  to  be 
here  copied  and  preserved.  This,  be  it  remembered,  was  just 
before  the  news  reached  us  of  the  conversion  of  Jlidson  and 
Rice  to  Baptist  views,  and  the  incipient  steps  were  taken  for 
commencing  our  foreign  mission  operations  : 

Friday  etexixg,  June  25, 1813.     Received  the  last  number  of  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Magazine.    The  missionary  accounts  from  India 
4 


38  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.   PECK 

are  very  interesting.  How  many  thousands  of  ttic  poor  benighted 
heatlien  there  are  who  worship  the  idol  of  Juggernaut  and  adore 
the  river  Ganges,  but  are  ignorant  of  the  way  of  salvatior  through 
Jesus  Christ !  How  can  Christians  in  this  land  of  high  privileges 
sit  easy  and  unconcerned,  without  contributing  out  of  their  abun- 
dance tc  spread  the  gospel  in  distant  pagan  lands !  My  soul  is 
grieved  for  them  in  their  ignorance.  Oh,  how  I  wish  I  was  so  circum- 
stanced in  life  as  that  I  might  be  able  to  bear  the  gospel  into  some  dis- 
tant pagan  lands  where  it  never  yet  has  shined  !  A  large  part  of  the 
American  continent  is  also  involved  in  darkness.  Yes,  under  the 
immediate  Government  of  the  United  States,  there  is  an  abundant 
field  for  missionary  labor.  How  I  should  rejoice  if  Providence 
would  open  a  door  for  my  usefulness  and  labors  in  this  way !  [This 
prayer  was  certainly  answered,  but  not  yet  was  the  door  opened.] 
But  alas,  how  idle  and  vain  are  my  thoughts  !  In  this  place  I  am 
too  faithless,  too  prone  to  wander.  Oh,  that  I  might  first  learn  to 
perform  the  duties  which  come  within  my  reach,  and  not  presume 
to  think  I  should  be  more  faithful  in  another  part  of  the  vine3^ard  I 

One  means  of  improvement  adopted  by  brethren  Peck, 
Jenks,  and  Lamb — three  Baptist  ministers  living  near  each 
other — was  to  meet  every  fortnight  at  each  other's  houses 
and  discuss  some  question  previously  proposed.  In  this  way 
they  appear  to  have  gone  over  a  number  of  the  important 
topics  of  systematic  theology  much  to  their  mutual  satisfac- 
tion and  edification.  But  before  the  year  closed  these  multi- 
plied efforts  in  his  day  school,  in  an  evening  school  which  he 
conducted  to  eke  out  a  scanty  support,  and  in  his  numerous 
evangelical  labors,  proved  too  hard  for  him.  His  health 
failed,  and  he  was  brought  apparently  to  the  brink  of  the 
grave.  His  wife  also,  at  another  time  this  year,  was  very 
dangerously  ill ;  but  both  experienced  recovering  mercy.  In 
the  meantime  his  improvement  became  more  and  more  obvious 
to  his  ministering  and  other  brethren.  He  was  njade  clerk 
of  the  Association  for  two  consecutive  years,  and  wrote  by 
appointment  both  the  circular  and  corresponding  letter — the 
first  of  his  compositions  submitted  to  the  press.  The  circular 
was  on  Election.  This  Scripture  doctrine  he  explained  and 
substantiated,  and  showed  both  its  use  and  abuse.  During 
this  year,  also,  he  determined  no  longer  to  attempt  preaching 


"UNSTUDIED    SERMONS REMOVAL.  39 

without  carefully  studying  eac'h  sermon.  He  acknowledges 
the  injurious  effect  on  his  own  mind,  as  well  as  on  his  hearers, 
of  going  before  his  audience  without  due  preparation  and 
trusting  to  the  impulse  of  the  moment  for  the  thoughts  and 
illustrations  which  he  should  emplo}^  It  was  but  too  common 
\\  ith  one  class  of  preachers  in  that  day  (not  of  course  the  in- 
telligent) to  profess  that  they  did  not  premeditate,  but  it  was 
given  them  in  the  same  hour — so  they  said — what  they  should 
utter.  Yet  such  is  the  inconsistency  of  poor  human  nature, 
these  very  men,  if  they  heard  from  a  studious  brother  minister 
an  excellent  and  well  elaborated  sermon,  would  not  scruple, 
when  they  thought  the  plagiarism  would  not  be  detected,  to 
appropriate  to  their  own  use  such  a  discourse,  and  deliver  it, 
nearly  as  they  could  remember  it,  as  though  it  had  been  given 
them  by  a  direct  communication  from  heaven. 

His  inadequate  support — the  result  in  part  of  breaking  up 
his  school  during  his  sickness,  and  the  fact  that  two  summers 
he  had  suffered  in  health  by  his  residence  and  excessive  labors 
in  Catskill — began  to  prepare  his  mind  for  leaving  that  affec- 
tionate little  flock.  About  the  end  of  the  year  1813  he  re- 
ceived an  intimation  of  the  desire  of  the  Baptist  church  in 
Amenia,  Dutchess  county,  that  he  would  come  and  labor  with 
them.  After  two  visits  among  them,  and  the  repetition  of  their 
invitation,  accompanied  with  the  proffer  of  such  support  as 
would  enable  him  to  give  up  a  school,  and  devote  himself 
more  concentratedly  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  and  to  his 
further  improvement  in  education,  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  accept 
their  invitation.  The  church  in  Catskill,  in  conformity  to  his 
request,  yet  with  much  reluctance  on  their  part,  granted  him 
release  from  his  pastoral  care  over  them ;  and  in  a  letter, 
bearing  date  February  19, 1814,  expressed  their  gratitude  for 
his  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  his  onerous  and  almost  unre- 
quited labors  among  them  for  almost  two  years ;  and  the 
assurances  of  their  love,  their  gratitude,  and  their  prayers  for 
his  success  in  the  new  sphere  where  Providence  .seemed  to 
call  him.  This  love  was  mutual,  and  he  seems  to  have  ever 
borne  towards  the  flock,  whom  he  first  served,  unabated  affec- 
tion ;  and  it  is  pleasant  to  notice  their  mutual  regard  in  all 
the  future  years  of  his  course 


40  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.    PECK. 


CHAPTER    TV. 

Pastorsliip  in  Amenia— Missionary  Zeal  and  Labors. 

On  his  first  visit  to  Amenia,  he  records  in  his  journal  that 
he  found  a  respectable  church  and  congregation,  who  appeared 
in  union,  though  there  was  much  complaint  of  coldness  among 
them.  iDeacon  Richard  Gurnsey,  one  of  the  best  of  men, 
was  a  leading  instrument  of  his  settlement  with  tha*t  people. 
When  our  brother  came  to  know  them  more  intimatel}^,  he 
found  many  things  of  a  discouraging  character  impeding  the 
success  of  his  labors.  Discipline  had  been  sadly  neglected, 
and  a  great  part  of  the  efforts  for  the  two  years  he  remained 
with  thenx  had  to  be  devoted  to  weeding  out  the  disorders 
which  had  been  suffered  to  accumulate  until  they  threatened 
the  ruin  of  the  cause.  The  flock  was  somewhat  widely  scat- 
tered in  their  residences  on  the  mountain,  and  indeed  over  it, 
as  well  as  for  a  long  distance  up  and  down  the  fertile  and 
beautiful  valley  where  their  house  of  worship  was  located. 
Some  families,  too,  resided  across  the  state  line  in  Connecticut, 
so  that  a  widely  diversified  field  of  active  labor  was  continu- 
ally demanding  his  utmost  energies,  intellectual  and  physical. 
His  preaching  was  prized ;  and  there  were  calls  for  lectures, 
or  prayer  and  conference  meetings,  in  so  many  different  neigh- 
borhoods, that  he  was  kept  in  lively  motion  a  great  part  of 
his  time.  But  relief  from  the  drudgery  of  the  school  operated 
favorably  on  his  health,  and  his  thirst  for  improvement  tasked 
his  powers  to  the  utmost.  Thot  noble  man,  and  scholar  and 
teacher,  Daniel  H.  Barnes,  was  at  this  time  Principal  of 
Dutchess  Academy  in  Poughkeepsie,  and  an  esteemed  member 
and  ere  long  a  licentiate  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Mr.  Peck 
formed  h"s  acquaintance,  and  by  his  generous  proffer  was 
encouraged  to  commence  under  his  instruction  the  reading  of 


STUDIES — LABORS HOPES    OF    A   REVIVAL,  41 

the  Greek  New  Testament,  as  well  as  other  kindred  studies 
which  he  prosecuted.  Week  after  week  he  would  devote  four 
days  or  more  to  earnest  study  under  the  guidance  of  this  most 
excellent  instructor — living  in  his  family,  and  spurred  on  by 
the  enthusiasm  which  this  teacher  felt  and  communicated. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Aaron  Perkins  was  then  his  fellow-student,  and 
bears  honorable  testimony  concerning  the  fidelity,  conscien- 
tiousness, and  vigor  of  his  associate  in  stud}". 

Early  in  the  second  year  of  Mr.  Peck's  pastorship  at  Ame- 
nia,  his  hopes  were  highly  raised  of  an  extensive  revival  under 
his  labors.  How  ardently  he  desired  it,  how  indefatigably  he 
labored  for  its  promotion,  and  with  what  pious  confidence  in 
God,  and  what  a  deep  sense  of  self-abasement  and  personal 
unworthiness  he  relied  on  Divine  grace  alone,  his  journal  at 
this  period  abundantly  testifies.  The  zeal  which  he  put  forth 
to  multiply  his  religious  services,  and  the  carefulness  he  evinced 
to  promptly  instruct  and  encourage  inquirers,  were  highly  com- 
mendable. But  he  seems  to  have  failed — as  many  others 
there  and  elsewhere  have  failed — to  awaken  the  zeal,  the  self- 
denying  and  hopeful  activities  of  the  church  members,  so  as 
to  induce  them  to  co-operate  with  him  in  his  pious  and  praise- 
worthy endeavors.  Probably  these  members,  or  many  of 
them  at  least,  thought  his  zeal  was  not  according  to  knowl- 
edge— that  he  had  taken  counsel  of  his  desires,  rather  than 
of  any  unmistakable  tokens  of  the  Divine  favor.  They  saw 
not  the  little  cloud  rising  out  of  the  sea,  foretokening  the 
abundance  of  rain,  nor  heard  they  "the  goings  in  the  tops  of 
the  mulberry  trees"  (a  favorite  emblem  among  these  spiritual- 
izing ministers  and  people  of  the  olden  times),  and  hence  they 
did  not  expect  at  that  time  great  things  from  God,  and  of 
course  were  very  slow  in  attempting  great  things  for  God. 
Some  of  his  brethren  indicated  their  unbelief  of  a  revival  as 
near  at  hand,  by  reviving  difficulties  and  church  labors  of  dis- 
cipline on  trifling  matters,  most  vexatious  in  their  influence,- 
which  for  weeks  and  months  attracted  the  chief  attention  and 
absorbed  the  zeal  and  spirit  vv'hich  the  young  pastor  had  hoped 
to  turn  into  a  worthier  channel.    Thus  his  hopes  were  blighted, 


42  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

the  Holy  Spirit  was  grieved  away,  and  but  few  souls  were 
converted.  How  sadly  and  deeply  he  mourned  over  this  and 
similar  hindrances  to  the  progress  of  the  cause  with  which 
his  soul  was  identified,  is  sufficiently  manifest  by  frequent  and 
characteristic  entries  in  his  diary.  But  God  was  evidently 
preparing  him,  by  these  very  reverses,  for  a  more  cordial  wel- 
coming of  what  was  to  be  his  grand  life-labor. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1815,  at  the  session  of  the  Warwick 
Association,  which  met  that  year  with  the  church  at  Lattin- 
town,  of  which  his  Brother  Aaron  Perkins  was  pastor,  he  met 
for  the  first  time  with  Kev.  Luther  Rice,  who  with  character- 
istic ardor  was  posting  from  one  association  to  another  fanning 
the  flame  of  missionary  zeal.  In  this  case  the  spark' fell  on  a 
train  already  laid,  where  little  effort  was  needed  to  kindle  a 
soul  already  panting  with  intense  desire  to  be  and  to  do  some- 
thing worthy  of  its  nature,  its  alliance,  its  destination.  In  a 
word,  Mr.  Rice  found  in  young  Peck  a  congenial  spirit  ready 
to  drink  in  the  words  of  fervent,  glowing,  holy  love,  in  which 
one  who  had  just  returned  from  heathen  shores  portrayed  the 
degradation  of  pagan  gloom,  and  the  duty  and  privilege  of 
hastening  to  rescue  the  souls  of  the  perishing  heathen  from 
destruction.  After  listening  to  the  public  appeal,  the  pastor 
of  Amenia  managed  to  take  Mr.  Rice  home  with  him ;  and 
in  the  hours  they  thus  spent  together  a  plan  was  consummated 
for  employing  the  former  by  the  latter  to  visit  in  the  coming 
months  two  or  three  associations  in  central  ISJ'ew  York  to  pro- 
mote a  missionary  spirit  among  them.  A  better  and  surer 
method  could  not  have  been  taken  to  perpetuate  in  his  own 
bosom  the  holy  devotedness  with  which  he  was  now  beginning 
to  l)e  imbued. 

Krc  long,  therefore,  having  already  made  a  hurried  visit, 
with  success  to  the  Franklin  Association,  by  the  consent  of  bis 
church,  as  it  may  be  presumed,  he  set  forth  for  a  more  thor- 
ojigh  labor  with  the  others  on  this,  to  him,  most  important 
;;;ul  decisive  tour.  The  record  of  it,  very  nearly  filling  his 
>  nry  Xo.  5  (the  first  of  those  of  a  small,  portable  form),  is 
Moouliarly  interesting' from  the  nature  of  the  services  in  whii^h 


VISIT    TO    HAMILTON    AND    EATON.  43 

lie  was  then  for  the  first  time  engaging,  and  from  the  perx^ons 
with  whom  he  then  first  came  in  contact,  and  the  incipient 
missionary  movements  which  he  was  instrumental  in  setting 
in  motion,  as  well  as  some  of  the  scenes  he  visited — since  so 
hallowed  in  their  associations,  and  where  so  many  of  the  de- 
voted missionaries  have  been  trained.  For  all  these  reasons, 
our  readers  will  justly  prize  the  reproduction  of  considerable 
portions  of  this  journal  in  our  pages. 

Hamilton,  September  lOtJi,  1815.  Lord's  Day.  In  the  morning  T 
heard  Elder  Hascall  preach  a  funeral  sermon  from  Luke  xii.  37. 
He  is  a  moderate  speaker,  but  of  sound  judgment.  In  the  aaer- 
noon  I  preached  with  a  great  degree  of  freedom  from  Luke  xix,  10. 
The  audience  solemn,  attentive,  and  many  affected.  May  the  word 
be  blessed  for  their  good  !  Spent  the  night  at  the  house  of  Brother 
King.  Had  a  very  agreeable  interview  with  him  and  his  family. 
Conversed  on  the  beauties  of  poetry  to  which  Mr.  King  is  much 
attached. 

11th.  Still  I  enjoy  the  presence  of  my  Redeemer.  I  can  truly 
^ay  my  cup  runneth  over  with  blessings.  T  find  kind  and  endearing 
n-iends  wherever  I  go,  who  strive  to  make  me  comfortable.  My 
mind  is  no  longer  harassed  with  the  cares  of  the  world,  and  per- 
plexed with  the  embarrassments  of  my  temporal  concerns  at  home. 
Now  and  then  a  thought  of  anxiety  and  grief  steals  across  my  mind 
in  reference  to  my  family.  But  this  is  hushed  when  considering 
that  I  have  dedicated  them  to  my  God,  and  left  them  in  his  hands. 
"With  the  greatest  confidence  in  the  rectitude  of  his  government, 
I  can  anticipate  the  time  of  meeting  my  dear  companion  and  my 
prattling  babes  as  they  gather  around  on  my  return.  In  the  evening 
preached  in  the  meeting-house  in  Hamilton  from  Psalm  Ixxxv.  10. 
Weather  rainy,  so  that  not  many  were  present.  Enjo^^ed  consider- 
able freedom  in  opening  and  explaining  the  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment. My  mind  still  continues  engaged.  I  feel  an  ardent  desire 
of  doing  good  wherever  I  go. 

12^/i.  In  company  with  Brother  Hascall  I  went  to  Eaton — eight 
miles — where  the  association  is  to  meet  to-morrow.  [Here  was 
the  residence  and  pastorship  of  that  eminent  man  of  God,  Nathan'l 
Kendrick,  D.D.,  so  long  Divinity  professor  in  the  Hamilton  Institu- 
tion, and  who  shared  with  Dr.  Hascall  the  honor  of  founding  it,] 
Put  up  at  Brother  Eels.  In  the  afternoon  the  Hamilton  Domestic 
Missionary  Society  met  and  arranged  their  affairs  for  the  year  en 


44  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

suing.  Tliis  society  is  greatly  assisted  by  female  auxiliaries  who 
manufacture  cloth  and  other  useful  articles.  It  is  in  encoiiraging 
circumstances.  In  the  evening  I  conversed  with  some  of  the  breth- 
ren on  forming  a  missionary  society  for  the  foreign  mission.  It  is 
thought  this  is  practicable.  My  mind  still  is  peculiarly  happy  in 
Divine  things.  Oh,  my  blessed  Saviour  !  all  this  I  receive  for  thy 
name's  sake. 

13^/i,  Spent  the  morning  in  further  conversation  on  missions.  At 
ten  o'clock  the  Madison  Association  met,  and  Elder  Lathrop,  from 
Warwick,  preached  from  Ezekiel  x.  Many  interesting  ideas  were 
communicated,  but  his  discourse  in  general  was  confused,  and  his 
manner  disagreeable.  Not  in  general  hked  by  the  brethren.  In  the 
afternoon  the  churches  made  their  returns.  Eehgion  generally  is 
flourishing. '  Some  churches  complain  of  coldness,  but  many  are 
quite  encouraged,  and  made  returns  of  considerable  additions. 
Five  churches  joined  the  association  this  session.  It  is  already  a 
large  body,  and  embraces  a  number  of  flourishing  and  respectable 
churches.  The  ministers  are  mostly  valuable  men,  sound  in  doctrine 
and  much  engaged  to  advance  the  cause  of  Christ.  The  churches  in 
this  western  country  are  generally  liberal  to  their  ministers,  afford- 
ing them  a  comfortable  support.  This  is  usually  done  by  an  average 
according  to  ability.  The  justness  and  propriety  of  this  method  is 
very  apparent.  Before  the  day  closed,  I  j)resented  the  letter  from 
Mr.  Eice,  which  I  read.  The  association  in  a  very  spirited  manner 
took  up  the  subject  and  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  me 
on  the  question,  and  also  requested  me  to  preach  a  missionary  ser- 
mon on  the  morrow.  At  evening  the  committee  conversed  on  the 
subject,  and  agreed  to  form  an  auxiliary  society.  I  drafted  a  report 
and  prepared  a  constitution  to  be  presented  to  the  association. 
The  spirit  of  missions  greatly  prevails  in  this  quarter.  It  does  not 
appear  to  be  a  hasty  passion,  but  a  settled  conviction  of  judgment, 
and  a  principle  of  duty. 

14^7j.  How  greatly  I  am  favored  !  I  share  every  comfort.  What 
a  checkered  scene  is  human  life !  But  a  few  weeks  since  I  was  re- 
pining at  my  lot.  Then  my  mind  was  filled  with  constant  embar- 
rassment.    Now  I  share  and  rejoice  in  the  light  of  life. 

Presented  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions  to 
the  association,  which  was  readily  approved.  Some  remarks  were 
then  made.  An  address  was  read  by  Elder  Lawton.  The  spirit  of 
missions  seemed  to  kindle,  and  glow^,  and  flame  through  the  congre- 
gation. Public  worship  commenced  at  ten  o'clock.  I  preached 
from  Ezekiel  xxxvii.  3 — enjoyed  peculiar  freedom    /-!liould  I  attempt 


MISSION   AGENCY — ITS   RESULTS.  45 

to  describe  the  effect  on  the  congregation  I  could  not  do  it  justice. 
The  solemn  attention,  the  trickling  tear,  the  sob  and  groaa  disclosed 
that  the  tenderest  feelings  of  the  heart  were  touched.  It  appears 
that  we  can  hardly  be  enthusiastic  on  the  subject  of  missions. 
Here  is  full  scope  for  the  most  benevolent  and  feeling  heart  to  ex- 
ercise itself.  It  ill  becomes  me  to  say  any  thing  respecting  my  own 
performance.  This,  however,  I  can  freely  say,  if  I  am  not  grossly 
deceived,  that  to  God — only  wise — all  the  praise  is  due.  A  col- 
lection for  the  benefit  of  the  mission  was  taken  amounting  to  eighty 
five  dollars,  which  was  increased  before  the  close  of  the  session  to 
one  hundred  and  three  dollars,  paid  into  the  treasury  in  one  day 
"When  I  reflect  that  but  a  few  years  since  all  this  country  was 
one  vast  wilderness — properly  missionary  ground — I  must  exclaim : 
What  hath  God  wrought ! 

This  is  a  specimen  of  nearly  fifty  pages  of  the  character- 
istic journal  of  Brother  Peck,  which  furnishes  the  true  key 
to  his  future  movements.  The  three  weeks  of  his  experience, 
as  here  developed,  shows  that  his  heart  was  fired  with  mis- 
sionary zeal ;  and  that  perhaps  unconsciously  to  himself  he 
was'  beginning  to  loathe  the  kind  of  mixed  employment — • 
partly  secular  and  partly  sacred — in  which  his  public  life  had 
hitherto  been  passed.  ]^ot  unlikely,  too,  the  hindrances  he 
had  unexpectedly  experienced  in  the  work  of  the  Lord  in  the 
church  at  Amenia,  their  dilatoriness  in  furnishing  him  the 
stipulated  support,  and  the  pertinacity  with  which  some  of 
the  members  insisted  on  pushing  their  disciplinary  action  to 
wards  a  brother  or  two,  who  had  fallen  into  disfavor,  and 
whose  wrong-doing  the  pastor  thought  some  of  the  brethren 
inclineji  unduly  to  magnify,  so  as  to  turn  off  the  regards  of 
the  community  from  what  he  reckoned  as  now  more  import- 
ant— all  conspired  to  move  him  to  the  result  which  appeared 
rapidly  approaching.  The  letters  which  passed  between  him- 
self and  Mr.  Rice,  as  well  as  his  report  to  Dr.  Staughton  as' 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  all  tended 
to  the  same  result. 

On  his  return  from  this  tour,  in  which  he  rode  four  hundred 
and  forty  miles,  preached  nineteen  times,  and  took  five  mis- 
sionary collections,  he  entered  with  characteristic  ardor  on  the. 


46  MEMom  or  john  m.  peck. 

performance  of  his  duties  both  in  Amenia  and  Hudson  (to 
the  church  in  the  latter  city  he  seems  to  have  preached  regu- 
larly for  several  months  a  portion  of  the  time)  ;  but  the  cause 
did  not  prosper.  Early  in  October  he  attended  the  Hartford 
Association,  meeting  that  year  in  North  Colebrook,  Ct.,  and 
enjoyed  the  services  very  greatly,  as  a  revival  was  then  pro- 
gressing there ;  and  his  favorite  missionary  object  continued 
to  increase  in  the  interest  awakened  in  its  behalf.  Early  the 
following  month,  he  commenced  teaching  a  school  in  Amenia, 
led  to  it  as  he  says  by  the  necessitous  circumstances  of  his 
little  family,  and  in  hope  of  being  of  some  benefit  to  the  youth 
placed  under  his  charge.  The  same  week  he  sent  in  a  letter 
to  the  Amenia  church,  giving  notice  of  the  discontinuance  of 
his  pastorship  at  the  termination  of  the  year. 

Yarious  ecclesiastical  duties  and  engagements  led  him 
away  from  his  school  for  a  day  or  two  at  a  time,  for  successive 
weeks,  to  Poughkeepsie,  to  Hudson,  and  elsewhere.  And  the 
double  duties  he  was  now  attempting  were  unfavorable  to  his 
health  and  his  religious  enjoyment.  Of  this  his  journal  takes 
frequent  and  sad  notice.  Notwithstanding,  he  appears  to  have 
borne  up  under  these  discouragements  in  a  manful  and  vigor- 
ous manner.  Twice  a  month  he  lectured  before  his  school,  and 
probably  a  few  others,  on  topics  sacred  and  historical — en- 
deavoring to  arouse  them  to  a  livelier  interest  in  mental  as 
well  as  religious  exercises. 

December  8th  he  mentions  that  within  one  week  he  had 
married  three  couples  and  received  for  it  sixteen  dollars,  of 
which  he  was  in  pressing  want,  and  could  therefore  regard 
this  in  no  other  light  than  as  a  special  providence,  for  which 
he  would  render  a  tribute  of  praise  to  his  ever  bountiful 
Provider. 

Before  the  close  of  this  year,  he  aided  in  the  ordination  of 
Kev.  J.  G.  Ogilvie  in  Hudson,  to  whom  he  gave  the  charge, 
the  first  time  he  had  ever  attempted  this  service.  It  seems  to 
have  been  much  blessed  to  his  0"^ti  soul,  awakening  a  very 
solemn  sense  of  his  responsibility  in  watching  for  souls.  Ke- 
turning  from  this  ordination,  he  perused  by  the  way  the  me- 


spencer's    memoir — J.  E.   WELCH.  41 

inoir  of  Thomas  Spencer,  and  found  his  soul  more  and  more 
kindled  to  holy  emulation  of  his  brief  but  distinguished  career. 
While  riding  along  the  road  he  frequently  lifted  his  heart  in 
prayer  to  God,  and  felt  assured  of  a  gracious  answer — com- 
paring his  own  feelings  on  this  occasion  to  those  of  President 
Edwards,  which  the  latter  describes  as  an  inward  sweetness, 
or  ravishing  desire  of  soul,  taking  the  greatest  satisfaction  in 
the  adorable  presence  of  God.  "  I  thought" — says  Mr.  Peck 
— **  I  could  be  happy  in  any  situation  of  life,  even  the  most 
trying.  I  felt  not  only  willing,  but  ardently  desirous  to  be 
wholly  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Christ." 

Friday  evening,  December  15th,  occurs  the  first  mention  made 
of  the  name  of  a  dear  brother,  w' ith  whom  he  w-as  to  be  most 
interestingly  associated  for  more  than  forty  years  in  kindred 
labors  and  trials  for  the  promotion  of  Christ's  kingdom.  The 
minute  in  his  journal  is  in  the  following  words:  "I  wrote 
a  letter  on  missionary  business  to  a  minister  by  the  name  of 
James  E.  Welch,  he  having  written  to  me  first.  It  is  pleasing 
to  hold  correspondence  with  any  of  the  friends  of  Jesus,  espe- 
cially with  such  as  devote  themselves  for  life  to  the  missionary 
cause." 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year,  he  remarks  that  "  Teach- 
ing a  large  school,  and  then  preaching  in  the  evening,  is 
quite  fatiguing  to  this  frail  tenement  of  clay;"  and  his  re- 
ligious enjoyments  and  depressions  seem  to  have  alternated 
frequently  in  this  period  of  his  history.  How  could  it  be 
otherwise  ?  The  bow  constantly  bent  must  lose  its  elastic, 
I'ecuperative  force.  The  chief  marvel  is  that  either  mind  or 
heart  could  retain  a  healthful  vigor  w^hen  so  constantly  taxed 
beyond  their  power  of  endurance.  At  the  end  of  the  vear 
1815,  he  notices  that  he  had  preached  the  past  year  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  times. 


A8  MEMOIE   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK 


CHAPTER    Y. 

Removal  and  Student  Life. 

The  opening  year,  1816,  witnessed  several  events  of  most 
important  influence  upon  his  future  history  which  may  be 
appropriately  noticed  here.  January  5th  he  mentions  having 
written  to  Dr.  Staughton  with  a  view  of  obtaining  some  assist- 
ance from  the  E  lucation  Society.     In  that  letter  he  says  : 

For  more  than  two  years  past  I  have  had  my  mind  frequently 
exercised  about  the  situation  of  the  perishing  heathen,  and  have 
ardently  longed  to  be  the  humble  instrument  of  imparting  to  some 
of  them  the  word  of  Hfe.  My  situation  in  life,  and  the  want  of 
requisite  qualifications  have  precluded  the  hope  of  ever  entering 
that  field  until  a  few  months  past.  The  difliculties  in  the  way  do 
not  seem  quite  insurmountable,  since  I  have  had  opportunity  of 
becoming  more  attached  to  the  missionary  interest  and  learning 
the  wants  of  the  poor  heathen.  By  communications  from  Brother 
Rice  I  learn  that  it  is  in  contemplation  to  establish  a  mission  in  the 
Missouri  Territory.  On  this  subject  I  found  in  my  own  mind  such 
a  correspondence  of  feeling  and  sentiment  that  I  could  not  forbear 
opening  my  mind  to  him.  Ever  since  I  have  thought  upon  the 
subject  of  missions,  I  have  had  my  e^re  upon  the  people  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  particularly  the  Indian  nations,  and  have  often  won- 
dered why  no  attempts  were  made  to  send  the  gospel  to  them.  I 
have  often  thought  that  if  it  was  my  lot  to  labor  among  the  heathen, 
the  Louisiana-purchase,  of  all  parts  of  the  world,  would  be  my  choice. 
Since  receiving  the  last  communication  from  Brother  Rice,  I  have 
had  serious  thoughts  of  making  a  tender  of  myself  to  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions.  As  I  am  in  great  want  of  sufficient  literary 
acquirements,  I  have  thought  of  spending  a  few  months  the  ensuing 
summer  in  Philadelphia  could  I  obtain  some  assistance  in  board  and 
tuition  from  the  Education  Society.  This  would  be,  however,  for 
the  exclusive  purpose  of  qualifying  myself  to  engage  in  the  cause 
of  missions  in  some  part  of  the  heathen  world.  ...  As  I  earnestly 
wish  your  friendly  advice  in  what  I  have  proposed,  it  may.be  proper 


LETTER    OF    LUTHER   RICK  49 

to  inform  you  of  my  circumstances  a  little  more  particularly.  I  am 
twenty-six  years  of  age,  and  have  a  family  consisting  of  a  wife  and 
three  children.  I  began  to  preach  in  1811,  and  was  ordained  in  June, 
1813.  The  opportunity  I  have  had  for  an  education  has  been  quite 
small.  I  have  made  some  advance  in  the  several  branches  of  an 
English  education,  and  have  paid  some  little  attention  to  the  Greek 
and  Latin  languages,  but  without  the  help  of  an  instructor,  except 
a  few  weeks  which  I  spent  with  Mr.  Barnes,  late  of  Poughkeepsie. 
I  am  not  able  to  translate  much  of  the  Greek  Testament  without 
tlie  help  of  a  lexicon. 

This  last  letter  from  Brother  Rice  alluded  to  in  the  above 
communication,  and  which  Mr.  Peck  mentions  in  his  diary,  as 
fixing  his  future  destiny,  is  too  important  and  characteristic 
to  be  omitted  or  curtailed.  The  allusion  to  other  things  than 
those  immediately  relevant  to  Mr.  Peck's  case  are  too  interest- 
ing, for  other  reasons  connected  with  the  history  of  that  period, 
to  be  omitted.     The  letter  is  given  entire. 

South  Fork  of  Lick  Creek,  Knox  Co., 
Indiana  Territory, 

November  30th,  1815. 
To  THE  Eev,  John  M.  Peck. 

Very  Dear  Brother: — Your  very  kind  and  highly  interesting 
letter,  of  October  12th,  came  duly  to  hand,  and  I  intended  to  answer 
it  shortly,  but  have  not  found  time  till  now.  Brother  James  E. 
Welch  was  with  me  when  I  received  it,  and  at  my  request  he  wrote 
to  you  immediately.  He  thinks  of  undertaking  a  mission  to  the 
West,  should  it  be  thought  advisable.  Possibly  you  may  be  fellow- 
laborers  in  this  great  field.  Your  success  at  \h.e  several  associations 
you  visited — viz. :  the  Franklin  in  June,  the  Otsego  and  Madison  in 
September,  and  the  Hartford  in  October — gives  me  very  great  sat- 
isfaction indeed.  In  your  next,  I  will  thank  you  to  furnish  me  with 
the  address  of  some  principal  minister,  or  private  member,  belong 
ing  to  the  Madison  Association,  to  whom  a  parcel  of  the  next  An- 
nual Report  may  be  forwarded.  Also  furnish  me  with  the  address 
of  the  President  and  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  "  Madi- 
son Society  Auxiliary,"  etc.,  and  the  date  of  the  formation  of  said 
mission  society ;  and  send  me,  if  you  can,  a  copy  of  their  constitu- 
tion.    In  answer  to  your  inquiries  : 

1st.  Is  it  contemplated  to  form  a  permanent  mission-station  in 
the  West  ?    Yes ;  certainly. 
5 


50  MEMOIR   OF    JOHN    M.   PECK. 

2d.  Would  it  be  best  to  have  schools  connected  with  the  mission? 
Yes. 

3d.  Any  particular  place  in  view  for  the  seat  of  the  mission? 
St.  Louis,  probabljr. 

4th.  What  literary  attainments  would  be  indispensable  ?  A  good 
English  education,  to  say  the  least,  so  as  to  be  able  to  conduct  a 
school  to  advantage.  In  addition  it  would  be  very  desirahle  to  pos- 
sess an  acquaintance  with  the  Latin  and  Greek,  if  not  the  Hebrew ; 
and  indeed  it  w^ould  be  desirable  that  the  missionary  should  be  a 
graduate  of  some  college,  though  this  should  not  be  considered 
indispensable.  A  thorough  acquaintance  with  grammar,  rhetoric, 
geography,  and  history,  are  of  very  great  importance. 

5th.  AVould  it  be  thought  necessary  for  some  person  to  accom- 
pany you  in  this  Western  tour  ?  Should  some  suitable  person  find 
his  heart  moved  to  offer  himself  to  the  service  of  the  Board,  as  a 
missionary  to  the  West/or  Ufe,  it  might  be  very  proper  for  him  to 
travel  with  me  some  time  in  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining the  best  position  for  the  seat  and  commencement  of  his 
missionary  labors.  I  thank  you  for  the  freedom  with  which  you 
have  described  your  views  and  impressions  relative  to  personally 
engaging  in  the  missionary  service.  It  gives  me  great  satisfaction, 
too,  that  your  views  are  so  much  inclined  to  the  West.  Not  only 
do  I  conceive  it  to  be  proper  that  a  mission  should  be  established 
in  the  West  on  account  of  the  importance  of  this  region  in  itself 
but  indispensably  necessary  to  satisfy  the  wishes  and  expectations 
of  pious  people  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  So  that  by  n<? 
means  could  I  think  it  best  for  you  to  abstain  from  these  reflections; 
much  less  that  you  ought  to  give  them  up  as  vain  and  hopeless. 

From  these  observations  you  will  receive  the  idea  that  I  think  it 
not  improper  to  encourage  you  in  the  consideration  of  undertaking 
a  Western  mission.  This  is  done  by  me  on  the  ground  that  you 
possess  an  education  amply  sufficient  to  enable  you  to  conduct  an 
EngUsh  school  to  advantage,  as  w^ell  as  from  the  very  pleasing  im- 
pression, relative  to  your  talents,  piety,  industry,  and  zeal,  left  on 
my  mind  by  my  short  acquaintance  with  you  last  spring.  You 
have  at  least  shown  yourself  faithf  id  over  a  few  things,  and  I  cannot 
but  cherish  the  hope  that  the  Head  of  the  Church  designs  in  his 
providence  and  grace  to  make  you  ruhr  over  many  things. 

You  mention  a  brother,  Zalmon  Tobey  in  AVilliams  College,  who 
thinks  of  directing  his  attention  to  the  Western  Indians.  I  hope 
this  is  of  the  Lord.  No  inforn^ation  could  have  imparted  to  me 
more  sincere  pleasure.     AVho  knows  but  you  and  he  may  labor  to- 


SCHOOL   AND   PREACHING   LABORS.  51 

gethei'  ?  Consult  liim  upon  the  subject,  and  let  me  hear  about  the 
matter,  I  beg  you  will  request  him  to  write  to  me,  and  to  direct 
his  letter  to  Nashville,  Tenn.,  provided  it  be  written  in  season  to 
arrive  there  by  the  1st  of  February;  if  not,  direct  to  Augusta,  Ga. 
])irect  your  own  in  the* same  manner.  Since  my  letter  to  Brother 
Cushman,  to  which  you  allude,  I  have  been  present  at  the  forniaticn 
of  four  new  auxiliary  mission  societies  in  Kentucky.  In  that  liiaie 
I  have  received  more  than  eleven  hundred  dollars.  In  Lexington, 
the  contribution  after  a  missionary  sermon  was  two  hundred  and 
forty  dollars — the  largest  I  have  received  on  any  one  occasion.  I 
expect  to  spend  all  the  winter  and  part  of  the  spring  in  ranging 
the  Western  and  Southern  States ;  shall  probably  not  reach  Phila- 
delphia earher  than  April — perhaps  not  till  the  1st  of  May ;  fear  I 
shall  not  be  able  to  visit  New  England  again  in  all  next  year,  as 
there  is  much,  very  much  to  do  yet  in  the  Middle,  Southern,  and 
"Western  States,  besides  my  contemplated  tour  into  the  Missouri 
country. 

I  beg  you  will  write  me  as  soon  as  convenient,  and  let  me  know 
if  you  would  like  to  engage  in  the  contemplated  Western  mission 
for  hfe,  and  whether  you  would  hke  the  business  of  teaching  a 
school ;  and  whether  you  would  be  willing  to  offer  to  the  Board 
next  spring,  and  would  be  ready  to  set  out  next  season  distinctly  tc 
engage  in  the  mission  itself.  It  would  afford  me  great  satisfaction 
to  see  you  in  Philadelphia  next  spring ;  and  I  beUeve  you  might  be 
highly  useful  in  this  Western  country,  whether  as  a  missionary  or 
otherwise. 

Best  regards  to  your  dear  lady,  and  believe  me  most  sincerely  and 
aflectionately  yours, 

Luther  Eice. 

While  Mr.  Peck  was  waiting  for  a  full  decision  of  the  mo- 
mentous questions  now  before  him,  his  school  was  continued, 
and  he  preached  in  Amenia,  in  Sharon,  in  Ellsworth  parish, . 
where  was  an  interesting  boarding-school,  in  which  a  precious  ■ 
revival  was  then  progressing ;  and  by  request  of  pious  Pedo- 
baptist  conductors  he  visited  and  preached  repeatedly  to  stu- 
dents and  others  with  happy  effect.     He  also  visited  Hudson 
and  Catskill  near  the  close  of  January,  and  enjoyed  much* 
freedom  in  preaching  and  visiting  among  his  old  friends.     On, 
leaving  Catskill  to  return  to -Amenia,  he  commenced  reading, 
the  life  of  David  Brainard,  which  he  had  just  purchased.    His. 


62  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

mission  labors  and  success  among  the  Indians  seem  to  have 
j5red  his  soul  with  fresh  ardor.  These  impassioned  utterances 
occur  in  this  connection  : 

Oh,  what  would  I  not  willingly  do  or  suffer  if  I  could  live  as  de- 
voted as  this  eminent  servant  of  God !  His  singular  piety  and 
devotedness  to  the  cause  of  Christ  affected  me  so  much  that  fre- 
quently I  shut  up  the  book  and  indulged  myself  in  meditation  and 
prayer.  I  felt  an  inward  longing  or  panting  of  soul  after  more  de- 
votion. I  had  very  clear  views  of  my  exceeding  sinfulness  and 
depravity.  But  notwithstanding,  I  felt  that  with  the  presence  of  a 
holy  God  I  could  be  happy  anywhere.  I  felt  not  merely  to  submit 
to  the  hardships  of  a  missionary  hfe,  but  I  ardently  longed  to  enter 
the  field.  Frequently  did  I  lift  up  my  soul  in  prayer  to  God ;  and 
toward  the  latter  part  of  my  ride  my  soul  was  much  drawn  out  for 
the  youth  in  my  society,  particularly  those  in  my  school.  I  felt  as 
though  I  could  wrestle  with  God  in  their  behalf.  Oh,  that  these 
desires  and  impressions  might  be  lasting  ! 

Some  weeks  later,  when  going  again  to  Hudson  to  preach, 
he  thus  writes  in  his  diary  : 

I  am  so  much  taken  up  in  my  school  through  the  week  that  I  can 
hardly  find  time  for  religious  meditation.  Oh,  how  dreadful  is  the 
thought  of  separation  from  God  !  Stopped  at  an  inn  to  feed  my 
horse,  where  there  was  a  lewd,  drunken,  wicked  set.  It  pained  my 
soul  to  be  in  such  company.  I  felt  a  degree  of  joy  that  I  was  not 
always  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness. 

March  1st,  he  notices  having  just  received  letters  from  Brother 
Welch  and  Dr.  Staughton.  From  the  first  be  learnt  some 
particulars  of  interest  about  the  Missouri  Territory  ;  and  from 
the  last  a  favorable  prospect  of  entering  the  theological  school 
in  Philadelphia  next  summer.  The  Doctor  recommended  him 
to  apply  to  an  education  society  in  New  York  city  where  he 
would  no  doubt  obtain  the  needed  assistance.  In  the  letter, 
the  first  of  a  long  and  interesting  series,  official  and  otherwise, 
which  the  writer  addressed  to  his  subsequent  pupil,  Dr 
Staughton  says : 


LETTERS    OF    GALUSIIA   AND    JOHN   PECK.  53 

I  am  happy  to  find  your  mind  impelled  to  devote  3^our  days  to 
the  honorable  and  laborious  service  of  a  missionary  of  Jesus.  I 
trust  the  Lord  in  his  providence  will  open  before  you  a  sphere  of 
useful  action,  and  assist  you  to  fill  it  to  the  honor  of  his  blessed 
name.  I  do  not  conceive  that  any  difficulty  will  attend  your  in- 
troduction into  the  Education  Society  for  a  few  months,  or  a  longer 
time  should  it  be  found  desirable. 

He  then  points  out  the  method  for  him  to  proceed  in  secur- 
ing the  assistance  desired  ;  gives  the  last  information  received 
from  Brother  Rice,  indicating  the  vigor  and  success  with  which 
he  was  prosecuting  his  laborious  agency ;  then  mentions  the 
sailing  of  the  missionaries  Hough  and  wife,  with  Mrs.  White, 
and  closes  in  a  most  fraternal  manner. 

Mr.  Peck's  visit  to  the  several  associations  in  the  summer 
and  fall  brought  him  into  correspondence  with  several  distin- 
guished brethren  in  those  bodies.  Room  can  only  be  found 
here  for  extracts  from  the  letters  of  two  of  them — Rev.  Elon 
Galusha  and  Rev.  John  Peck.  The  former,  under  date  of 
Whitesborough,  Itth  January,  1816,  says  : 

I  was  highly  gratified  to  learn  your  great  success  in  the  mis- 
sionary cause,  and  the  information  with  which  you  favored  me 
from  Brother  Rice  was  very  grateful.  Wonderful  indeed  are  the 
mercies  of  God.  How  transporting  to  contemplate  the  latter-day 
glory,  to  which  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord,  now  prospering  with  our 
missionary  brethren,  is  doubtless  a  prelude.  Oh,  that  men  would 
praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his  wonderful  works  to  the 
children  of  men  !  Nothing  special  has  occurred  in  the  place  of  my 
late  residence,  since  I  saw  you,  except  the  establishment  of  the 
'' Shaftsbury-and-vicinity  Missionary  Society,"  of  which  my  father 
is  President,  and  Elder  Mattison  Corresponding  Secretary.  In  sub- 
scription by  members  of  said  society  I  obtained  more  than  one 
hundred  dollars.  The  missionary  cause  also  flourishes  here.  The 
Female  Mite  Society,  established  by  your  request,  now  consists  of 
seventy  members,  twenty-three  of  whom  pay  annually  one  dollar 
each,  the  others  half  this  sum.  Five  or  six  dollars  have  also  been 
added  as  donations,  amounting  in  all  to  between  fifty  and  sixty 
dollars  already,  and  the  year  not  half  expired. 

Oh,  dear  brother,  pray  for  rae  that  I  maybe  more  engaged  in  the 


54  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

glorious  cause  of  our  precious  Eedcemer.    May  the  pleasure  of  the 
Lord  prosper  with  you,  and  his  special  blessing-  rest  upon  you. 
Your  cordial  friend  and  unworthy  brother  in  gospel  bonds, 

Elon  Galusha. 

Father  Peck,  as  he  has  long  been  called,  wrote  as  follows : 

Cazenotia,  May  2Aih,  1816. 
Dear  Brother : — It  is  with  pleasure  that  I  learn  your  resolution 
to  devote  yourself  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  missionary  cause. 
You  inform  me  that  you  are  on  your  way  to  Philadelphia  to  spend 
some  time  in  the  theological  seminary  preparatory  to  your  en- 
gaging in  the  blessed  cause  of  preaching  the  gospel  in  the  regions  of 
superstition  and  idolatry.  I  rejoice  that  you  find  the  means  of  ac- 
complishing your  desires.  And  I  pray  God  that  he  may  continue 
his  blessing  to  you,  and  grant  success  to  all  your  endeavors  for  his 
glory.  I  will  take  the  liberty  to  inform  ^''ou  that  the  Lord  has  gra- 
ciously been  pleased  to  visit  us  with  an  outpouring  of  his  Spirit : 
sixty-five  have  been  added  to  this  church  since  July  last.  In  the 
town  of  Eaton,  where  the  Madison  Association  was  held  which  you 
attended,  free  grace  is  now  gloriously  triumphing.  Within  a  month 
past,  on  two  Sabbaths,  thirty-eight  were  immersed  in  the  name  of 
the  Holy  Trinity.  In  Homer,  where  Elder  Bennett  is  pastor,  Zion's 
glorious  King  is  exhibiting  his  matchless  power.  Last  Sabbath, 
twenty-four  w^ere  added  to  that  church.  In  Pompey  the  Lord 
reigns :  twenty-four  have  been  added  to  the  church  in  that  town. 
In  Sherburn  and  Sangersfield  God  is  doing  wonders.  According  to 
your  request  I  send  a  copy  of  our  last  minutes,  also  a  copy  of  the 
sixth  and  seventh  numbers  of  "The  Vehicle."  I  request  you 
to  take  an  interest  in  the  promotion  of  this  work.  And  if  you 
could  continue  your  correspondence  with  me,  I  should  esteem  it  a 
great  pleasure ;  and  I  desire  you  to  send  me  any  intelligence  or 
other  communication  suitable  for  the  magazine.  I  consider  your 
situation  favorable  for  this  purpose,  and  all  communications  will  be 
thankfully  received.  I  know  of  no  person  in  the  Cayuga  Associa- 
tion more  suitable  to  be  intrusted  with  missionary  reports  and  other 
communications  than  Deacon  Squire  Munro,  of  Gamillus,  who  is 
now  President  of  the  Auxiliary  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  I  feel 
to  congratulate  you  on  the  glorious  triumph  of  our  adorable  Sove- 
reign. Almost  every  breeze  wafts  to  our  ears  some  pleasing  intei- 
liizence  of  the  increase  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Go  on,  victorious 
King,  nor  stay  thy  hand  until  all  thy  enemies  are  subdued,  and  the 


NEW   YORK   CITY   AND   PniLADELPIIIA.  55 

whole  earth  is  filled  with  thy  glory.     This  is  the  sincere  prayer  of, 

dear  brother,  your  sincere  friend, 

John  Peck. 

Brother  Lawton  presents  his  respects,  and  desires  to  be  remem- 
bered by  you. 

Peck  and  Lawton,  Bennett  and  Kendrick,  Hascall  and 
Galusha,  are  names  not  likely  ever  to  fade  from  Baptist  recol- 
lection in  Central  New  York ;  and  to  all  of  them  the  subject 
of  this  memoir  had  linked  himself  for  a  life-long  affection  by 
his  brief  visit  to  them  the  preceding  autumn. 

At  the  end  of  March  he  closed  his  school,  to  which  he  had 
become  much  attached,  and  it  was  hard  parting.  So  he  found 
it  in  taking  leave  of  the  churches  in  Catskill,  in  Hudson  and 
Amenia,  in  all  of  which  he  left  many  loving  friends.  This  and 
the  business  cares  of  settling  up  his  accounts,  and  providing  for 
nis  family's  comfort  through  the  summer,  and  especially  taking 
leave  of  them  for  so  long  a  period — all  tended  to  depress  and 
almost  sadden  him.  Near  the  end  of  April  he  left  them,  and 
stopped  in  Poughkeepsie ;  he  afterward  spent  five  days  in 
New  York,  where  he  preached  in  the  principal  Baptist  churches, 
and  received  the  marked  attention  of  ministers,  deacons,  and 
influential  brethren  and  their  families.  On  some  kind  and 
generous  notices  of  his  preaching  which  came  to  his  knowl- 
edge, he  expresses  in  his  journal  the  fear  that  he  was  in 
danger  of  becoming  popular.  For  Elders  Parkinson  in  Gold 
street,  Williams  in  Fayette  (now  Oliver)  street,  and  Maclay  in 
Mulberry  street,  he  preached  more  than  once  each,  thus  filling 
up  his  time  and  wearying  him  almost  beyond  his  power  of 
endurance.  Then  on  the  1st  of  May  he  set  forth  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning — and  in  a  steamer  too! — for  Phila- 
delphia, reaching  as  far  as  Trenton  before  midnight.  Here 
he  stayed  over,  and  reached  Philadelphia  by  another  steamer, 
down  the  Delaware  (which  much  delighted  him  by  its  earlier 
vernal  beauty  than  he  had  left  behind  him),  before  noon  the 
second  day.  He  found  Dr.  Staughton's  residence,  and  was 
mtroduced  to  him  and  his  ladv  and  his  three  fellow-students, 


56  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

Parnsworth,  Wilson,  and  Meredith.     Somers  having  jusi  left 
for  a  settlement  in  Troy,  and  Welch  not  having  arrived. 

His  residence  in  the  city  of  brotherly  love — boarding  in  the 
family  of  Dr.  Staughton  with  his  fellow-students,  and  mingling 
freely  with  all  the  Baptist  and  other  ministers  who  were  then 
accustomed  to  be  the  frequent  guests  of  his  renowned  pre- 
ceptor, and  who  often  preached  in  his  pulpit  as  well  as  ate  at 
his  table — gave  to  this  young  man  opportunities  of  improve- 
ment to  which  he-  had  never  been  accustomed,  and  not  un- 
likely were  of  quite  as  much  benefit  to  him,  by  their  direct 
and  indirect  influence,  as  the  opportunities  of  study  which  he 
enjoyed.  He  entered  soon  on  the  vigorous  study  of  Latin, 
and  obtained  a  little  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  tongue,  besides 
reviving  and  enlarging  his  acquaintance  with  the  Greek  of  the 
New  Testament.  He  also  listened  to  the  instructive  lectures 
of  Dr.  Staughton  on  botany  and  other  branches  of  natural 
science.  He  wrote  essays  and  other  compositions  and  sermons, 
and  submitted  them  for  criticism  to  his  fellow-students  and 
their  teacher.  Occasionally,  too,  he  preached  even  in  the 
great  Sansom-street  church  edifice,  which  was  then  his  especial 
admiration  for  its  magnitude  and  unique  construction.  Gladly 
would  w^e  transfer  to  these  pages  his  first  admiring  im- 
pressions of  the  house,  the  audience  (which  by  a  popular  ex- 
aggeration, then  as  now  by  no  means  uncommon,  he  greatly 
over-estimated)  rated  at  four  thousand  hearers  seated,  besides 
multitudes  standing  in  the  aisles  and  about  the  lobbies  and 
doors  of  the  edifice.  It  was  then  a  time  of  revival  in  this 
church.  The  first  Sabbath  he  spent  there,  he  saw  eleven  bap- 
tized in  the  spacious  font  in  the  centre  of  that  great  theatre, 
which  for  that  purpose  especially  he  greatly  admired.  The 
next  month  fourteen  were  received  b}^  the  same  church. 

No  feature  of  the  novelties  now  rushing  on  his  attention 
bcems  to  have  more  interested  him  than  the  Sabbath-schools, 
then  very  recently  introduced.  That  in  the  Sansom-street 
church,  where  he  soon  became  a  teacher,  embraced  some  foui 
hundred  pupils  ;  held  two  sessions  each  Sabbath,  which  were 
begun  with  reading  the  Scriptures,  accompanied  often  wit! 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS — PREACHING — BELF-IMPR0VEM1:NT.         57 

brief  familiar  expositions,  with  exhortation  and  prayer,  at  the 
end  of  which  all  the  children  repeated  in  concert  the  Lord's 
prayer,  Then  they  divided  off  into  classes  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
each,  having  two  teachers  to  every  class,  and  pursued  for  an 
hour  the  method  thought  best  for  imbuing  the  young  minds 
w^th  religious  knowledge.  They  were  closed  with  some  gen- 
eral remarks,  or  exercises  of  review,  and  with  one  or  more 
appropriate  hymns,  in  which  all  these  young  voices,  as  far  as 
possible,  were  taught  to  unite.  The  deep  interest  which  he 
soon  came  to  take  in  these  schools,  his  visits  among  the  poor, 
the  sick,  the  ignorant,  to  whom  his  connection  with  the  chil- 
dren of  his  class  introduced  him,  were  all  happily  conducive 
to  that  eminent  fitness  which  he  early  attained  for  performing 
an  immense  amount  of  successful  and  blessed  labor  of  this 
kind  in  the  West. 

As  he  had  been  for  years  an  ordained  minister,  and  as  his 
services  were  needed  and  welcomed  in  a  somewhat  wide  circle 
in  and  around  Philadelphia,  he  found  not  a  little  interruption 
to  the  regular  course  of  his  studies  by  such  calls  and  diver- 
sions. At  times  he  regretted  this  ;  but  so  much  stronger 
was  Lis  love  for  evangelizing  labors  of  all  kinds  than  for 
mere  book-learning,  and  so  facile  had  the  habits  already 
lequired  rendered  the  performance  of  these  semi-pastoraJ 
ur  missionary  labors  that  he  very  readily  yielded  himself 
to  nearly  every  solicitation  of  this  character ;  and  almost 
every  Sabbath,  and  not  unfrequently  considerable  part  of 
the  week  besides,  he  was  exercising  himself  actively  as  a 
minister  of  Christ.  Nor  was  this  by  any  means  a  total  loss. 
For  by  the  various  intercourse  thus  secured  with  all  classes, 
he  became  a  successful  and  rapid  learner  in  the  great  field  of 
the  knowledge  of  mankind. 

Considering  his  own  want  of  early  scholastic  advantages, 
it  is  interesting  to  notice  the  method  he  employed  for  supplying 
these  deficiencies  and  overcoming  the  bad  habits  into  which  he 
had  almost  necessarily  fallen.  A  letter  of  advice  which  he 
about  this  time  wrote  to  a  dear  young  friend  whose  early  years 
had  been  passed  somewhat  as  his  own,  but  who  had  the  pros- 


58  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.   TECK. 

pcct  now  opening  of  becoming  a  public  character,  and  needed 
therefore  to  be  improved  in  many  respects  in  intellectual  fur- 
niture and  acquirements,  develops,  I  doubt  not,  somewhat  mi- 
nutely some  of  the  methods  v^^hich  he  had  found  it  necessary 
to  pursue  in  order  to  correct  bad  habits  and"  elevate  himself 
to  a  worthier  level  of  intellectual  attainments.  A  few  sen- 
tences of  that  letter  will  indicate  its  general  character  : 

I  am  pleased  with  your  improvement  in  writing,  and  hope  you  will 
not  be  discouraged  by  any  difficulties  that  may  present.  If  you 
intend  to  be  a  missionary,  you  must  acquire  the  habit  of  pressing 
through  many  difficulties  to  obtain  important  qualifications.  I  mosi 
earnestly  intreat  you  to  spend  at  least  half  your  time  in  reading 
and  writing.  To  facilitate  your  writing,  it  may  be  best  for  you  to 
make  a  little  book  and  keep  a  diary  of  what  is  passing.  But  while 
you  are  attending  to  writing,  it  is  also  indispensably  necessary  that 
you  should  attend  to  spelling.  I  do  not  say  it  to  criticise,  nor  must 
you  let  it  hurt  your  feelings,  but  your  spelling  is  very  bad.  In 
order  to  correct  this,  whenever  you  write,  it  is  best  you  should  have 
a  small  dictionary  lie  before  you,  and  look  out  every  word  whose 
spelling  you  are  not  sure  you  know.  You  can  easily  find  any  word 
in  the  dictionary  by  its  alphabetical  arrangement.  You  had  better 
also  study  the  spelling-book,  and  regularly  teach  some  child  a  lesson 
in  it  every  day,  thus  helping  to  fix  what  you  learn  more  firmly  in 
your  memory. 

Then  follow  some  directions  for  learning  grammar  without 
much  aid  from  teacher  or  books,  of  which  a  specimen  in 
orthography  may  suffice  : 

In  writing,  you  must  begin  every  sentence  after  a  period  with  a 
capital  letter.  Also  the  name  of  any  person  or  place.  So  when 
you  have  the  letter  i  or  o  by  itself,  you  must  use  capital  letters. 

Then  follow  a  number  of  corrections  of  this  friend's  bad 
spelling,  or  faulty  use  or  neglect  of  capital  letters.  Thus 
anxious  did  he  show  himself  that  others  should  be  early  im- 
bued with  the  spirit  of  intellectual  improvement,  and  should 
be  shown  some  of  the  first  steps  of  the  ladder,  for  which  he 
had  been  obliged  to  feel  his  way  in  the  dark. 


ESTIMATE    OF   PREACHERS   AND    COLNSELORS.  69 

The  presence  of  Mr.  Rice  in  Philadelphia  some  part  of  the 
time  while  he  was  engaged  in  study,  helped  to  keep  his  heart 
still  warmly  alive  to  missionary  duties.  At  his  instance, 
Mr.  Peck  was  often  sent  forth  to  visit  churches,  associations, 
and  missionary  societies  at  their  anniversaries,  to  fan  the  flame 
of  holy  zeal  for  the  evangelization  of  the  heathen.  One  of 
the  earliest  of  these  tours  took  him  into  Delaware  to  attend 
the  Delaware  Baptist  Association.  He  describes  its  exercises,  . 
preachers,  subjects,  etc.,  and  indicates  pretty  clearly  the  blight- 
ing influence  of  some  of  those  hyper-calvinistic  views  among 
them,  which  eventually  dwarfed  to  nothingness  most  of  those 
churches.  In  these  and  like  visits,  and  in  the  extensive  facili- 
ties he  had  for  associating  with  the  ministers  of  that  day,  he 
came  to  know  somewhat  intimately  a  large  portion  of  those 
who  figured  most  conspicuously  in  that  early  period  of  oar 
annals.  To  some  of  these  he  only  briefly  alludes,  scarcely 
more  than  mentioning  their  names  ;  others  he  very  briefly 
characterizes,  with  a  free  and  generous  frankness,  ever  more 
ready  to  record  their  excellencies  than  to  dwell  on  their  defects. 
Others  again  he  portrays  more  fully  and  minutely.  Dr. 
Staughton  and  S.  H.  Cone — then  a  young  man,  and  a  still 
younger  preacher,  having  left  the  stage  and  political  life  to 
preach  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ — were  his  favorites 
as  pulpit  orators.  He  draws  a  life-like  picture  of  their  man- 
ners in  the  pulpit,  and  the  effects  which  attended  their  most 
powerful  and  successful  public  appeals.  A  sermon  of  the 
latter,  when  on  a  visit  to  Philadelphia  seeking  some  aid  for 
the  little  church  in  Alexandria,  to  which  he  had  just  begun 
to  minister,  brought  forth  a  collection  of  nearly  two  hundred 
dollars — a  large  sum  for  that  day.  "  The  greatest  pulpit 
orator  of  his  age  I  have  ever  heard,  but  appears  humble  and 
discovers  no  disposition  to  gain  the  applause  of  the  people. 
His  address  most  pleasing,"  etc. 

Revs.  John  Williams  of  New  York,  Luther  Rice,  Daniel 
Sharp,  of  Boston,  and  H.  G.  Jones,  of  Roxborough,  were  his 
chosen  counselors.  The  varied  biblical  learning  of  Dr.  Staugh- 
ton and  Irah  Chase,  recently  from  Andover  Seminary,  he  highly 


60  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.   PECK. 

esteemed  ;  while  with  all  his  felloAv-students  above-named,  as 
well  as  Welch,  Murphy,  H.  Malcom,  Ashton  and  Walker  who 
joined  them  subsequently,  he  maintained  a  most  fraternal 
union. 

Near  the  close  of  July  their  studies  were  intermitted  for  a 
vacation  of  five  or  six  weeks,  most  of  which  he  spent  in  aiding 
bis  dear  Brother  Rice  in  getting  out  and  distributing  the 
annual  missionary  report  of  the  Board ;  and  then  in  a  kind 
of  volunteer  missionary  tour  in  lower  New  Jersey,  where  he 
enjoyed  very  much  the  hospitality  of  Rev.  Mr.  Sheppard,  of 
Salem,  and  some  others.  He  preached  abundantly  in  the 
counties  of  Salem,  Cumberland,  and  Cape  May,  not  only  in 
the  Baptist  churches,  but  in  destitute  neighborhoods,  and 
wherever  the  providence  of  God  opened  a  door  before  him. 
He  seems  to  have  enjoyed  this  tour  very  much,  and  also  to 
have  been  eminently  welcome  and  useful.  Wherever  prac- 
ticable he  was,  both  privately  and  publicly,  promoting  the 
foreign  mission  spirit  and  effort. 

Just  about  this  time  also,  both  his  journals  and  letters  in- 
dicate that  he  was  much  exercised  in  mind  in  regard  to  the 
path  of  his  personal  duty.  The  Foreign  Mission  Board,  at 
their  annual  meeting  in  New  York,  had  discussed  but  not 
decided  the  question  of  establishing  a  mission  in  the  Missouri 
Territory.  While  all  admitted  the  great  desirableness  of  this 
step,  the  more  considerate  and  cautious  brethren  deemed  it 
the  prerogative  of  the  Convention  (which  would  meet  the 
next  year),  and  not  of  the  Board,  to  decide  a  question  of  so 
much  magnitude.  This  conclusion  necessarily  deferred  any 
definite  action  on  the  case  of  Messrs.  Peck  and  Welch,  who 
were  quite  willing  at  that  time  to  have  offered  themselves  to 
the  Board  for  this  Western  mission.  What  should  he  do 
therefore  ?  Dr.  Staughton  and  Mr.  Rice  advised  that  he 
should  pursue  his  studies  in  Philadelphia  until  the  next  spring 
or  summer.  Dr.  Sharp,  with  whom  he  then  for  the  first  time 
appears  to  have  taken  counsel,  suggested  his  temporary  em- 
ployment by  the  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society,  to  travel 
and  preach  under  their  auspices  in  central  and  western  New 


REVISITING    FIELDS    OF    EARLY    LABOR — REVIVAL.  61 

York,  and  perhaps  extend  his  labors  to  Ohio.  Another  plan 
was  for  him  to  teach  school  again  for  the  winter  in  Amenia, 
which  would  have  brought  him  into  close  proximity  to  his 
dear  family,  from  whom  this  long  separation  was  most  un- 
welcome. All  agreed,  it  seems,  that  for  the  ultimate  benefit 
of  his  proposed  devotement  to  the  mission  in  the  great  West 
the  first  of  these  plans  was  the  most  desirable,  provided  he 
could  secure  the  comfortable  support  meanwhile  of  his  little 
family.  Generous  friends,  chiefly  in  Philadelphia  and  Xew 
York  city,  made  up  a  purse  for  this  object ;  and  thus  his 
way  was  cleared  of  impediments,  and  his  heart  leaped  with 
joy  at  thought  of  spending  the  winter  in  the  very  place  of  all 
others  most  adapted  to  secure  his  personal  improvement. 
Somewhat  more  extensive  plans  of  study  were  therefore 
marked  out  for  him  and  his  destined  associate,  Welch,  on 
which  he  prepared  to  enter  with  vigor.  Preliminary  to  this, 
he  spent  a  few  weeks  in  a  visit  to  his  family.  The  joy  of 
returning  to  their  embrace  after  an  absence  of  five  months  or 
more  was  great  indeed.  What  added  very  much  to  his  sacred 
delight  was  the  revival  now  progressing  in  Amenia,  in  which 
many  of  his  old  friends  and  a  remarkable  proportion  of  the 
dear  pupils  of  his  late  school  had  personally  shared.  With 
what  holy  joy  he  now  returned  to  see  the  valley  of  dry  bones, 
which  he  had  left  so  lifeless,  quickened  to  blessed  vitality; 
with  what  religious  fervor  he  preached,  and  prayed,  and  vis- 
ited from  house  to  house,  is  recorded  in  his  journals  and 
letters  of  this  period,  and  is  still  cherished  in  the  grateful 
recollections  of  some  who  then  witnessed  his  joy  and  shared 
his  labors.  In  this  visit  he  found  it  practicable  to  attend  the 
anniversaries  of  the  Hartford  and  the  Rensselaerville  Associ- 
ations, with  both  of  which  as  a  pastor  he  had  been  pleasantly 
connected.  In  both  of  these  bodies  he  watched  with  interest, 
and  in  the  latter  especially  he  helped  to  promote  and  deepen 
the  missionary  zeal  of  his  late  associates.  With  his  family  he 
also  visited  Hudson,  Catskill,  and  Durham,  where  troops  of 
old  friends  gathered  around  them  with  glowing  affection. 
Rev.  Dr.  Porter,  of  Catskill,  opened  his  church  to  him,  and  he 
6 


i 


C2  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK. 

there  preached  in  behalf  of  his  favorite  theme — missions — • 
with  decided  success.  So  he  did  also  in  Amenia,  where  he 
not  only  took  up  a  collection  twice  as  large  as  usual,  but  alsoi 
formed  a  juvenile  missionary  society  of  nearly  forty  membei^" 
a  majority  of  them  his  former  pupils.  To  his  father's  house 
in  Litchfield,  Ct.,  he  also  made  a  brief  visit,  and  records  his 
thankfulness  that  his  old  Congregational  brethren  no  longer 
exhibited  coldness  to  him  on  account  of  his  change  of  eccle- 
siastical relations,  but  loved  him  as  of  yore. 

Passing  through  New  York  city,  both  going  and  returning, 
on  this  visit  to  his  family,  he  spent  several  days,  and  as  usual 
preached  to  several  of  the  churches  with  increased  acceptance. 
On  reaching  Philadelphia  again  (November  8),  he  found  that 
he  had  traveled  by  land  and  water  eight  hundred  and  twelve 
miles,  had  preached  twenty-seven  times,  seven  of  which  were 
for  missionary  collections.  Just  about  this  time  also,  he 
received  from  the  indefatigable  Rice  a  characteristic  letter. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  he  had  left  Philadelphia  in 
July,  putting  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Peck  the  v/ ork  of  sending 
off  the  last  half  of  the  annual  reports  for  that  year.  The 
>Tapoleon-like  movements  of  Mr.  Pice — over  the  mountains 
crossing  and  recrossing  State  lines,  through  Yirginia,  North 
Carolina,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  with  a  celerity  which 
nothing  but  the  boldest  zeal,  and  the  most  indomitable  perse- 
verance could  have  planned  or  executed — were  well  adapted 
to  kindle  a  similar  spirit  in  those  with  whom  he  came  in 
closest  contact ;  and  they  did  not  fail  of  this  result  on  him  to 
whom  these  hurried  lines  were  addressed.  To  this  letter 
Mr.  Peck  promptly  replied,  giving  to  his  honored  friend  all 
the  recent  missionary  intelligence.  Thus  imparting  and  re- 
ceiving impulse  in  the  chosen  work  to  which  his  life  was 
devoted,  he  was  the  better  prepared  to  enter  again  upon  his 
course  of  studies.  The  following  plan  he  sketched  for  his 
daily  guidance  through  the  winter ;  and  he  adhered  to  it  when 
unavoidable  interruptions  did  not  turn  him  aside. 

Eise  in  the  morning  at  six  o'clock.     Engage  in  private  prayer, 
which  I  can  well  do,  as  mv  fellow-students  will  not  have  risen  at 


DIVISION    OF    TIME,  STUDIES,  AND   LABORS.  63 

that  hour.  Then  spend  one  hour  in  studying  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
with  the  assistance  of  Henry,  Gill,  Scott,  or  some  other  judicious 
expositor.  Commence  and  continue  regular  study  till  breakfast, 
reviewing  the  Grq^k  grammar  first.  After  breakfast  pursue  regular 
studies  of  the  day,  except  the  hours  given  to  medical  lectures. 
After  dinner  come  the  recitations,'after  which  miscellaneous  read- 
ing and  writing  till  tea-time.  The  evenings — except  two  each  week 
given  to  lectures  on  osteology  —  to  be  devoted  to  studying  the 
classics,  to  writing,  copying,  etc.,  except  some  times  an  hour  or 
two  given  to  attending  pubhc  worship.  Then  give  the  closing  hour, 
till  half-past  ten,  to  such  study  of  the  Scriptures,  as  occupies  the 
first  hour  of  the  morning.  Eegular  daily  studies  were :  Monday 
and  Wednesday,  Hebrew  and  Latin ;  Tuesday  and  Thursda3'-,  Greek ; 
Friday,  natural  philosophy,  use  of  the  globes,  astronomy,  etc. ;  Sat- 
urday, composition  of  sermons,  lectures  on  theology,  and  s^'stem- 
atic  reading. 

He  also  resolved  to  be  economical  of  time,  frugal  in  expense, 
temperate  in  diet,  not  over  indulgent  in  sleep,  nor  to  allow 
himself  in  idle,  unprofitable  talk,  and  sacredly  to  keep  up 
secret  communion  with  God. 

Dr.  Staughton,  conceiving  that  his  pupils,  Welch  and  Peck, 
would  be  greatly  benefited  in  their  vocation  as  missionaries, 
by  such  improvement  as  a  course  of  medical  lectures  would 
furnish,  procured  them  tickets  from  the  principal  professors 
in  the  medical  college ;  and  tbey  gladly  availed  themselves 
of  this  additional  means  of  generous  culture.  It  may  readily 
be  understood  that  with  such  an  amount  of  demand  on  them, 
taking  full  notes  as  they  did  of  the  lectures  they  listened  to, 
their  time  would  be  literally  crowded  with  engagements.  Yet 
Mr.  Peck  preached  on  an  average  about  three  times  a  week 
the  whole  winter,  visited  the  prisons,  conversed  with  and 
preached  to  the  prisoners,  and  made  himself  very  useful  among 
the  poor  and  ignorant  of  that  city.  It  is  no  marvel  that  under 
this  system  of  overtasking,  both  body  and  mind  began  soon 
to  falter ;  and  many  are  the  mournful  intimations  spread  on 
the  pages  of  his  private  journal  of  the  nature  and  amount  of 
his  sufferings — physical,  mental,  and  religious.  Not  yet  had 
he  so  fully  learned,  as  he  did  subsequently,  how  certainly  the 


64  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

overdone  frame  and  the  mind  strained  beyond  its  healthful 
tension  are  sure  to  spread  over  the  whole  soul  the  tinge  of 
depression,  or  the  fitfulness  of  unwholesome  exhilaration, 
which,  as  it  cannot  be  sustained,  will  alternate  Avith  stupidity 
and  gloom.  Affecting  are  the  jottings  down  on  successive 
Sabbath  mornings  of  his  "stupidity,  deadness,  want  of  en- 
gagedness  in  the  cause  of  Christ,"  when  he  should  have  had 
time  for  repose,  but  was  obliged,  as  he  and  others  thought,  to 
preach  repeatedly.  Can  we  wonder  that  he  complains  of  a 
heart  so  little  attuned  to  the  services  on  which  he  was  re- 
quired to  enter  ?  They  who  give  to  mind  or  body  no  rest, 
Avhen  both  by  the  great  Sabbath  law  are  allowed  it,  must 
expect  to  receive  in  their  own  abused  nature  the  due  pun- 
ishment of  the  violation  of  these  wholesome  ordinances. 

To  add  to  his  embarrassments  the  health  of  one  of  his 
children  failed,  his  family  needed  comforts  which  he  was 
unable  to  supply  them,  the  aid  which  had  been  proffered  him 
for  their  support  partially  failed,  and  the  remainder  came  but 
tardily,  so  that  his  mind  for  February  and  March  was  con- 
tinually harassed  with  almost  agonizing  apprehensions  in 
regard  to  the  welfare  of  those  most  dear  to  him.  His  letters 
to  his  family,  and  especially  his  diary  from  day  to  day,  bore 
conclusive  and  sad  evidence  of  what  he  in  this  respect  suffered. 
At  length,  with 'the  advice  and  consent  of  his  kind  preceptor, 
Dr.  Staughton,  he  made  a  little  tour  among  the  churches  in 
the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia,  where  his  gratuitous  labors  had 
been  so  largely  given,  aided  by  his  fellow-students,  Welch  and 
Meredith.  At  the  home  of  the  latter  he  addressed  a  cheerful 
epistle  to  his  wife  ;  and  making  known  to  the  pastors  and  some 
of  the  principal  brethren,  delicately  as  possible,  his  straitened 
circumstances,  they  made  up  in  small  sums  nearly  sixty  dol- 
lars, which  proved  to  be  a  timely  relief  in  this  trying  exigency. 
He  was  busily  engaged  in  this  business  when  the  time  arrived 
for  the  assembling  of  the  triennial  convention  for  missionary 
purposes  in  May,  181Y,  to  whose  decisions  he  had  looked 
forward  with  such  mingled  fear  and  hope,  as  certain  to  have 
a  decisive  bearing  on  all  his  future  course.    He  Avas,  theiefore 


TRIENNIAL   CONVENTION    OF    1817.  C5 

a  deeply-interested  spectator  of  what  transpired  on  that  mo- 
mentous occasion ;  and  as  more  than  one  generation  has 
since  passed  awa}^,  it  maybe  interesting  to  reproduce  on  these 
pages  the  more  important  portion  of  his  condensed  records  of 
those  transactions.  The  principal  actors  have  all  been  removed, 
and  their  sayings  and  doings  may  without  indelicacy  be  re- 
viewed by  us,  with  interest  certainly,  and  perhaps  with  profit. 

AVkdxesday,  31ay  7, 1817.  The  missionary  convention  assembled 
at  Sansom  street.  Credentials  were  received  from  the  delegates, 
and 'they  took  their  seats.  Eev.  Dr.  Furman  was  chosen  President, 
and  Eev.  Daniel  Sharp,  Secretary — when  further  business  was  ad- 
journed till  to-morrow  morning.  /  ^ 

At  evening,  Eev.  Dr.  Baldwin  preached  the  convention-sermon, 
from  John  iv.  35,  36.  He  contemplated,  1st,  the  fields  of  missionary 
labor  ;  2(1,  the  qualifications  of  missionaries  ;  3d,  the  encouragements 
assured.     His  discourse  was  interesting,  but  wanting  in  animation. 

Thursday,  8/f/i.  The  convention  heard  the  report  of  Brother 
Eice,  their  general  agent.  It  wa.5  very  interesting.  Oh,  how  much 
does  the  zeal  and  activity  of  this  devoted  servant  of  the  Eedeemer 
reprove  the  slothfulness  of  others  in  this  holy  cause  !  Communi- 
cations were  ther  read  from  our  brethren  in  India,  both  from  the 
Serampore  missionaries  and  our  own  missionaries  in  Eangoon.  A 
church  has  been  formed  at  the  latter  place,  and  all  things  prosper. 
AVere  it  not  for  some  particular  circumstances,  I  should  think  it  my 
duty  to  devote  my  hfe  to  that  region.  The  Board  made  a  report  in 
part,  in  which  they  express  their  desire  that  a  Western  mission  be 
entered  upon. 

Friday,  9^/i.  Heard  the  further  communications  from  Burmah — • 
a  joint  letter  from  Brethren  Judson  and  Hough :  their  plan  of  mis- 
sionary operations.  They  utter  the  Macedonian  cry  :  *'  Come  over 
and  help  us."  They  declare  their  intention  never  to  give  up  the 
missionary  cause.  Committees  were  then  appointed  to  investigate 
the  minutes  of  the  Board,  and  to  prepare  the  business  of  the  con- 
vention. The  Board  recommended  some  necessary  alterations  in 
the  constitution  so  as  to  embrace  home  missions  ;  also  to  provide 
for  the  education  of  missionaries. 

Evening.  A  general  prayer-meeting  was  held  in  Sansom  street 
for  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  convention  and  for  the  success  of 
our  efforts  to  spread  the  gospel. 

Saturday,  10//}— Heard  the  report  of  the  committee  to  wluni  that 


^^5  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

part  of  the  report  of  the  Board  concerning  alterations  in  tlie  con- 
stitution had  been  committed.  Considered  the  recommendations 
in  committee  of  the  whole,  and  reached  this  result : 

1.  Incorporated  with  the  foreign  field  certain  portions  of  our 
own  country  under  the  denomination  of  a  Domestic  Mission.  This 
secures  the  great  object  of  a  Western  mission. 

2.  Directed  the  Board  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  establishment  of 
one  or  more  classical  and  theological  seminaries  to  educate  mis- 
sionaries and  others. 

This,  also,  I  view  as  a  most  important  object,  nearly  concerning 
the  welfare  of  the  mission.  To  qualify  young  men  as  missionaries 
is  a  preliminary  to  sending  them  out.  All  this  business  w^as  con- 
ducted with  the  utmost  love  and  harmony.  Never  did  I  see  so 
eventful  a  period  in  the  cause  of  rehgion  as  the  present.  Events 
of  the  utmost  importance  are  depending  on  the  developments  of 
every  hour.  From  first  to  last  the  hand  of  God  is  clearly  seen. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  present  exertions  will  arouse  every  supiiie 
professor,  and  excite  every  latent  principle  of  piety  amongst  the 
Baptists  in  oar  land. 

Evening.  Rev.  Mr.  Baptist,  from  Virginia,  preached  in  Sansom 
street  from  2  Timothy  vi.  12.  He  is  a  popular  young  man,  and  in 
many  respects  an  orator. 

Monday,  12^/i.  Convention  still  engaged  in  the  consideration  of 
the  important  business  before  them.  Besides  favorably  confirming 
the  recommendations  of  the  committee  of  the  whole,  from  Satur- 
day's sitting,  the  subject  of  a  more  permanent  agency  in  this 
country  was  considered.  It  is  with  no  common  emotions  of  delight 
that  I  have  to  mention  the  harmony  and  union  which  prevail  in 
our  councils. 

Tuesday,  13th.  After  several  important  resolutions  considered 
and  adopted,  the  convention  unanimously  approved  the  doings  of 
the  Board  for  the  three  years  past,  censuring  those  individuals 
who  have  opposed  and  attempted  to  injure  the  mission.  Next  they 
took  into  consideration  the  subject  of  a  mission  to  Africa ;  then 
heard  the  communication  of  two  young  men  from  Massachusetts 
(Coleman  and  Wheelock),  who  offer  themselves  to  the  Board.  Their 
letters  were  very  animating. 

Received  also  a  communication  from  New  Orleans,  setting  forth 
the  state  of  things  in  that  region  and  the  great,  the  pressing  need 
of  missionary  labors.  A  Board  for  conducting  the  missions  the 
next  three  years  w^as  then  chosen. 

Wednesday,  1-lth. — Convention  continued  its  sessions  both  fore- 


CONVENTION   AND    BOARD'S   PROCEEDINGS.  67 

noon  and  afternoon.  All  things  progressed  with  the  utmost  har- 
mony. Much  business  oi"  importance  was  transacted,  which  I  trust 
will  be  of  lasting  benefit  to  the  churches.  It  was  an  aflfectjng  time 
at  the  close.  Dr.  Baldwin  made  a  short  address,  which  awakened 
tender  and  tearful  emotions  in  nearly  all  present.  The  one  hundred 
and  thirty-third  Psalm  was  then  sung,  and  the  convention  adjourned 
till  the  last  Wednesday  in  April,  1820.  It  is  probable  that  I  shall 
never  see  these  fathers  and  brethren  any  more  in  this  world,  but  I 
hope  to  meet  them  in  the  next.  Kev.  Mr.  Leonard  preached  in  the 
evening  from  Luke  xxiii.  42,  43. 

Next  day  (the  15th)  the  Board  commenced  its  important  busi- 
ness. Evening,  Kev.  Mr.  Bates  preached  from  Malachi  i.  11.  Doc- 
trine :  The  worship  of  the  true  God  will  prevail  in  all  the  earth. 
An  interesting  discourse. 

Friday,  16^/i.  The  Board  still  in  session.  Messrs.  Coleman  and 
Wheelock  were  accepted,  and  appointed  missionaries  to  Rangoon. 
The  subject  of  a  domestic  mission  in  the  Southwest  was  brought 
forward.  A  letter  from  Eev.  Mr.  Ronaldson,  of  Xew  Orleans,  was 
read,  and  an  appointment  given  him  with  the  provision  of  five  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum  for  his  support. 

The  business  relating  to  myself  was  then  brought  forward.  [He 
had  presented  a  written  document,  fully  explaining  his  views  and 
feelings,  offering  himself  as  a  candidate  for  appointment  in  the 
Western  mission.] 

The  business  was  not  taken  up  in  a  manner  quite  satisfactory  to 
me ;  and  the  views  of  the  Board  seemed  rather  discordant  on  the 
question.  What  should  the  Domestic  Mission  embrace  f  Some 
seemed  to  entertain  the  idea  that  it  must  only  embrace  an  itinerant 
mission  among  destitute  churches  and  such  places  as  are  already 
Christianized.     The  business  was  finally  deferred  till  to-morrow. 

This  view  of  the  case  brought  a  heavy  trial  on  my  mind.  Indeed 
I  see  no  way  to  obtain  my  object  in  the  mission,  but  either  to  engage 
as  a  mere  itinerant  for  a  limited  time,  or  to  go  exclusively  among 
the  Indians.  The  first  I  do  not  think  my  duty  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances ;  the  last  does  not  seem  expedient.  What  will  be  the 
result  I  know  not.  But  I  feel  to  trust  in  a  gracious  God  who  wiU 
do  all  things  well. 

Evening.  Heard  Eev.  John  Peck  preach  from  Psalm  xxx.  5. 
Retired  to  rest,  but  slept  little,  on  account  of  the  agitation  of  my 
mind  and  the  painful  suspense  imder  which  I  labored  with  regard 
to  the  mission. 

Saturday,  11th.  This  day,  I  suppose,  will  decide  my  future  pros- 


68  MEMOIR    or   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

pects.  How  solemn  the  thought  that  a  few  hours  must  decide  not 
only  with  respect  to  what  I  have  been  pursuing  for  two  years  past, 
but  what  relates  to  my  whole  life  in  the  future  !  I  feel  a  degree  of 
resignation  to  the  hand  of  God  in  whatever  he  may  please  to  appoint. 
To  i7/m  will  I  commit  the  whole  concern,  believing  that  he  will  order 
what  is  best  for  his  kingdom  and  glory.  At  ten  o'clock  met  the 
Board  of  Missions.  After  some  business  of  minor  importance, 
Brother  Welch,  made  his  communication  to  the  Board.  I  made 
some  further  explanations,  and  then  w^e  withdrew.  The  decision  is 
now  pending.     What  will  be  the  issue  I  know  not. 

Six  o'clock.  The  long  agony  is  over.  The  Board  have  accepted 
Mr.  Welch  and  myself  as  missionaries  to  the  Missouri  Territory 
during  our  and  their  pleasure ;  and  have  appropriated  the  sum  of 
one  thousand  dollars  to  defray  our  expenses  in  getting  to  St.  Louis 
and  for  the  support  of  the  mission.  In  this  I  think  I  see  the  hand 
of  God  most  visibly.  From  this  moment  I  consider  myself  most 
sacredly  devoted  to  the  mission.  0  Lord,  may  I  live  and  die  in  the 
cause ! 

Lord's-day,  lS^7i.  Attended  worship  in  the  morning  at  Sansom 
street.  Eev.  Daniel  Sharp  preached  from  Psalm  cxix.  97  an  ex- 
cellent, eloquent,  and  appropriate  discourse.  After  sermon  Brother 
John  Walker  (a  fellow-student)  received  ordination.  Dr.  Staughton 
asked  the  usual  questions,  and  presented  him  the  Bible.  Dr.  Fur- 
man  made  the  ordaining  prayer,  while  all  the  ministers  present  im- 
posed hands.  Dr.  Baldwin  gave  an  excellent  and  very  affecting 
fellowship  with  the  right-hand,  and  Rev.  John  Williams  gave  the 
charge  to  the  candidate.   The  exercises  were  solemn  and  impressive. 

This  day  is  one  never  to  be  forgotten.  My  fellow-laborer  Welch 
and  myself  are  to  be  solemnly  set  apart  for  the  work  of  the  mission. 
The  exercises  are  to  commence  at  five  o'clock.  It  is  a  solemn, 
consideration.  I  have  now  put  my  hand  to  the  plow.  0  Lord, 
may  I  never  turn  back — never  regret  this  step.  It  is  my  desire 
to  live,  to  labor,  to  die  as  a  hind  of  pioneer  in  advancing  the  gospel. 
I  feel  the  most  heavenly  joy  when  my  heart  is  engaged  in  this  work. 

At  the  appointed  hour  in  Sansom  street  Rev.  Dr.  Furman  preached 
an  appropriate  discourse  from  Acts  xiii.  2  :  "■  Separate  me  Saul  and 
Barnabas  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them."  Dr.  Staugh- 
ton called  on  Brother  Welch  and  myself  briefly  to  explain  wh}^  we 
desired  to  engage  in  this  mission.  Dr.  Baldwin  offered  the  prayer. 
Dr.  Staughton  gave  the  right-hand  of  fellowship  with  a  most  affect- 
ing address,  in  which  he  adverted  to  our  residence  in  his  family 
Rev.  Jesse  Mercer  gave  the  charge.     One  expression  in  the  charg' 


SETTING    Ar.lRT    PECK    AND    WELCH    AS    MISSIONARIES.        C9 

cleservcs  to  be  indelibly  impressed  on  my  heart.  Speaking  of  the 
success  which,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  he  hoped  would  crown 
our  labors,  and  enforcing  the  necessity  of  prudence  in  every  respect, 
he  added :  "A  little  imprudence  may  spoil  the  whole  worJc."  The 
solemn  exercises  were  closed  by  singing  Rev.  Saml.  Pearce's  favorite 
missionary  hymn :  "  O'er  tlie  gloomy  hills  of  darkness,"  etc.,  etc. 
After  Dr.  Staughton  gave  the  right-hand  of  fellowship,  all  the  min 
istering  brethren  gave  us  their  hands  and  bade  us  God-speed.  When 
I  came  to  take  the  hand  of  my  ever-valued  and  much-endeared 
friend.  Rice,  my  heart  well  nigh  failed.  The  thought  rushed  on  my 
mind  with  peculiar  force :  "  Soon  we  separate,  perhaps  never  to 
meet  in  this  world ;  but  I  hope  we  shall  meet  in  heaven." 

After  the  services  closed,  many  of  the  dear  flock  of  Sansom  street 
came  and  took  me  b}^  the  hand,  bidding  me  an  affectionate  farewell. 

Two  pages  of  hisjoui'Dal  are  here  filled  with  a  very  appro> 
priate  revicAV  of  the  months  he  had  so  pleasantly  and  profit- 
ably spent  in  Philadelphia,  the  kind  friends  w^io  had  there 
gathered  around  him,  the  obligations  under  which  he  was  now 
laid  to  devote  himself  unreservedly  to  the  great  cause  of  evan- 
gelizing the  destitute.  A  humble  sense  of  his  own  conscious 
w^eakness,  and  his  dependence  on  Divine  grace  mingles  with 
his  fervent  gratitude  to  God  and  to  his  brethren  for  the  privi- 
lege of  being  allowed  thus  to  devote  himself  on  the  altar  of 
duty.  Then  girding  himself  anew  to  the  w^ork  before  him, 
he  seems  doubly  resolved  that  no  efforts  or  sacrifices  on  his 
part  shall  be  wanting  to  promote  the  cause  to  which  his  life 
is  now  consecrated. 


70  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

CHAPTER    YI. 

Preparation  and  Journey  to  tlie  West. 

Mr.  Peck  immediately  hastened  to  his  family  that  he  might 
prepare  them  for  the  long  and  toilsome  journey  to  the  place 
of  their  destined  residence  and  labors.  He  spent  one  night 
in  New  York  city,  hearing  Dr.  Baldwin  preach  in  Fayette 
(now  Oliver)  street  church,  and  another  in  New  Haven,  where 
he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Rev.  Mr.  Lines,  pastor  of  the 
Baptist  church,  and  of  a  young  brother,  Lindsley,  a  student  in 
Y'ale  College,  a  candidate  for  the  Baptist  ministry ;  and  with 
unutterable  emotions  reached  his  father's  house,  and  embraced 
his  dear  family  after  his  long  absence  and  their  many  trials. 
This  was  on  the  2  2d  of  May.  The  next  two  months,  besides 
the  requisite  arrangements  for  their  journey,  and  the  leave- 
taking  of  his  and  his  wife's  families  and  their  many  friends  in 
the  places  where  he  had  resided  and  the  churches  he  had 
served,  he  performed  a  large  amount  of  pioneer  missionary 
work,  of  an  agency  kind, 'throughout  a  somewhat  extensive 
region  of  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and  eastern  New  York. 
He  attended  the  anniversaries  of  the  Shaftesbury  and  the 
Saratoga  Associations,  before  both  which  bodies  he  was  per- 
mitted to  plead  the  cause  of  missions.  He  traveled  during 
these  few  weeks  by  private  conveyance  or  on  foot  seven  or 
eight  hundred  miles ;  and  in  preaching,  visiting,  writing 
letters,  and  arranging  for,  and  actually  forming,  auxiliary 
societies,  he  performed  an  almost  incredible  amount  of  labor, 
and  apparently  with  gratifying  success.  He  notices  in  his 
journal  the  kind  courtesy  of  several  Pedobaptist  churches  in 
New  Haven,  in  Catskill  and  elsewhere,  that  opened  their 
houses  of  worship  for  him  cordially,  and  allowed  him  to  plead 
the  cause  dearest  to  his  heart  before  their  people,  and  receive 
their  willing  offerings.     In  Troy,  Albany,  and  Hudson  also, 


SETTING    OUT    ON    IITS   LONG   JOURNEY.  tl 

his  labors  were  welcomed  and  blessed.  In  West  Stock- 
bridge  he  examined  and  baptized  five  candidates,  among  them 
Nathaniel  Colver,  then  a  young  man. 

Indeed,  were  the  names  of  all  the  loved  and  honored  serv- 
ants of  God  whom  then  he  met  with,  and  to  whom  no  small 
share  of  the  fire  of  his  own  zeal  was  communicated,  here 
enumerated,  the  catalogue  would  be  found  to  embrace  a  large 
number  who  have  worthily  carried  forward  the  work  on  which 
he  was  then  entering.  Merely  preparatory  to  his  great  life- 
labor — as  he  regarded  these  services — it  may  reasonably  be 
doubted  whether  they  were  not  directly  and  indirectly  as 
useful  as  any  which  he  ever  rendered.  The  holy  zeal  thus 
enkindled  in  so  many  breasts,  of  both,  pastors  and  influential 
members  of  churches,  was  indeed  a  quickening  leaven,  giving 
greater  vitality  to  their  own  affections  and  to  all  with  whom 
they  came  in  contact ;  and  by  linking  them  in  thought  and 
sympathy  to  the  masses  of  the  unevangelized  at  home  and 
in  pagan  lands,  they  experienced  the  benign  influence  of  the 
moral  dignity  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  On  an  average 
he  preached  nearly  one  sermon  a  day  (on  some  days  not  less 
than  four),  and  wrote  and  received  twice  as  many  important 
letters  on  this  great  subject  during  this  whole  period.  No 
wonder  he  groaned  out  under  this  self-imposed  burden,  and 
instead  of  recruiting  for  the  great  labor  before  him,  as  he 
needed  to,  he  was  absolutely  exhausting  both  his  physical  and 
mental  forces.  The  tender,  heart-moving  adieus  which  day 
after  day  he  was  taking  of  dear  and  valued  friends,  with  the 
feeling  in  most  instances  that  it  wp,s  a  final  parting,  was  also 
exhausting  and  depressing.  To  counterbalance  these  things, 
he  had  only  the  invigorating  influence  of  faith,  but  this  was 
all  powerful. 

Friday  afternoon,  25th  of  July,  see  a  little  one-horse  wagon 
leaving  the  door  of  Asa  Peck,  in  Litchfield,  with  its  precious 
freight — his  only  son  and  wife  with  their  three  little  ones.  They 
had  together  read  the  closing  part  of  the  twentieth  of  Acts, 
had  knelt  down  and  prayed  together,  and  with  such  sad  fare- 
wells as  were  almost   overwhelming,  our  brother  with  his 


72  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

little  family  here  set  forth  on  their  journey  of  more  than 
twelve  hundred  miles,  not  expecting  ever  again  to  meet  on 
earth.  This  was  the  external  aspect  of  the  scene.  He  who 
would  look  beneath  the  calm  aspect  of  the  surface  might 
there  discover  a  violent  internal  struggle. 

This  son,  now  leaving  the  parental  mansion,  is  not  a  heed- 
less young  man,  unacquainted  with  the  depth  and  tenderness 
of  emotions  which  swell  a  father's  heart.  He  has  for  years 
been  a  father  himself — has  known  the  pain  of  parting  with 
his  own  offspring.  He  can,  therefore,  and  he  does,  more 
deeply  and  thoroughly  than  he  thinks  it  wise  at  present  to 
manifest,  sympathize  with  the  agonizing  sensations  which  his 
feeble  and  decrepid  father  now  evinces.  That  aged  and  infirm 
man  has  not  the  faith  of  his  son,  nor  the  heroic  fortitude  of 
his  own  wife.  She,  the  tender-hearted  mother,  with  a  Chris- 
tian h'^roism  which  her  sex  are  so  often  enabled  to  exercise,  • 
rises  above  the  weakness  of  woman  and  the  fondness  of  a 
doting  parent.  Her  lip  quivers,  but  her  heart  is  firm.  There 
are  tearr  in  her  eyes,  but  there  is  also  a  triumphant,  exulting 
joy  on  her  countenance  as  she  says  :  ''  If  the  Lord  hath  need 
of  him — only  son  as  he  is,  and  we  are  growing  old — let  His 
holy  will  be  done  1  He  gave,  and  though  very  precious  to 
us  was  this  his  gift,  yet,  if  there  is  a  needs  be  for  the  sacrifice, 
God  forbid  that  I  should  hinder  his  devotement  to  his  Saviour 
and  mine." 

The  father  yielded  to  his  own  overmastering  sensibilities  ; 
he  groaned  and  wept  aloud  ;  and  as  the  little  wagon  drove 
from  the  door,  his  loud  outcries  of  grief  were  the  last  sounds 
which  fell  on  the  ears  of  the  departing  ones.  Again  and  again 
had  this  grandsire  plead  that  one  of  the  children  at  least  might 
be  left  to  gladden  his  loneliness.  It  could  not — must  not  be  ; 
and  as  all  this  now  comes  over  the  minds  of  these  wayfarers, 
doubt  not  that  they  too  are  glad  of  the  shelter  of  their  cov- 
ered vehicle ;  for  they  can  give  vent  to  the  long  pent-up  emo- 
tions which  perforce  they  have  endeavored  to  restrain. 

The  religion  of  the  great  Cross-bearer  is  essentially  a  system 
of  sacrifices ;  but  it  has  also  its  compensations.     The  very 


HINDRANCES    IN    FUllMEll   TRAVELING.  73 

next  Lord's-day  this  aged  pair  wiped  away  their  tears,  and 
went  up  to  the  Kbuse  of  God  to  worship.  They  asked  (as 
was  then  and  is  now  common  in  parts  of  New  England)  an 
interest  in  the  public  prayers  for  themselves  and  the  dear  ones 
on  their  long  journey  who  had  just  parted  with  them.  And 
no  doubt  they  felt  even  then,  when  all  eyes  and  all  kindly 
hearts  were  turned  to  the  pew  which  Asa  Peck  and  wife  occu- 
pied, that  they  were  privileged  and  honored  in  giving  up  such 
children  to  the  service  of  the  Lord.  Nor  were  these  children 
without  their  rich  recompense.  In  many  ways  and  forms, 
the  bread  which  they  cast  upon  the  waters  was  found  by 
them  after  many  days  multiplied  an  hundred-fold. 

In  no  one  aspect,  scarcely,  have  the  last  forty  years  of  our 
country's  history  show^n  a  greater  advancement  than  in  the 
facilities  for  rapid  and  easy  journeying  from  one  remote  point 
to  another.  Now  it  is  very  easy  in  three  or  four  days  to 
remove  a  family  with  all  their  substance  from  the  Connecticut 
to  the  western  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  Then  it  required 
as  many  months  of  time,  with  not  a  little  of  toil,  exposure, 
and  even  peril.  Will  not  the  readers  of  this  memoir  very 
naturally  desire  a  pretty  full  view  of  what  were  the  actual  ex- 
periences of  this  family  in  this  their  great  transition,  very  little 
more  than  forty  years  since  ?  And  as  very  many  of  them  are 
able  to  draw  the  favorable  contrast,  by  their  own  recent  expe- 
rience of  a  journey  over  the  same  extent,  will  not  their  grati- 
tude be  awakened  by  the  facilities,  the  comforts,  the  expe- 
dition now  realized  ?  Mr.  Peck  thus  states  the  distances 
from  one  point  to  another,  in  the  route  then  most  frequented, 
In  a  letter  to  his  wife,  some  months  before  their  actual  setting 
out :  From  Litchfield,  Ct,  to  Philadelphia,  two  hundred  miles  • 
thence  to  Pittsburg,  three  hundred  ;  to  Wheeling,  sixty ;  to 
Zanesville,  fifty-five ;  to  Chillicothe,6eventy-two  ;  to  the  cross- 
ing of  the  Ohio  river,  sixty-three  ;  to  Lexington,  Ky.,  sixty- 
eight ;  to  Louisville,  seventy-three;  to  Vincennes,  Ind.,  one 
hundred  and  tw^enty-two  ;  through  wilderness  to  Kaskaskia, 
one  hundred  and  forty-five  ;  to  St.  Louis,  fifty-seven.  Total, 
twelve  hundred  and  fifteen. 


74  MEMOIR    UF    Juii-N    M.   I>ECK. 

For  brevity's  sake,  pass  over  the  journey  to  riiiladelphia, 
which  had  now  become  familiar  to  him,  and  which  occupied 
ten  days,  and  the  week  which  he  spent  in  that  city  getting 
his  final  instructions  from  the  Board,  and  introducing  his  wife 
and  children  to  many  of  the  families  who,  by  previous  ac- 
quaintance with  him,  had  become  most  interested  in  their 
welfare.  The  subsequent  itinerary,  with  such  abridgment 
from  the  original  journal  as  can  be  made  Avithout  essentially 
marring  its  interest,  had  been  faithfully  prepared  for  insertion 
in  this  place  ;  but  the  publishers  cannot  allow  its  introduction 
here  :  it  must  find  a  less  conspicuous  place,  in  the  appendix, 
or  be  left  out  entirely. 

Nearly  one  month  was  occupied  in  passing  from  Philadelphia 
through  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  over  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains, till  on  the  10th  of  September  he  passed  into  Ohio. 
Three  weeks  he  journeyed  in  that  State,  and  on  the  23d  of 
October  recrossed  the  Ohio  river  into  the  State  of  Kentucky, 
where  he  met  with  his  associate,  Welch,  and  wife,  and  soon 
left  in  company  with  them,  and  on  the  6th  of  November 
again  crossed  the  Ohio  river,  into  the  then  territory  of  Illinois, 
at  Shawneetown.  Here  again  some  e;xtracts  are  given  from 
his  journal. 

Thursday,  October  6ih.  Our  arrival  was  late,  and  little  could  he 
learnt  in  regard  to  this  wretchedly-appearing  village.  Here  th^ 
glad  tidings  of  salvation  are  but  seldom  heard.  We  are  now  prop- 
erly on  missionary  ground,  which  from  its  location  and  destitute 
state  must  belong  to  our  field. 

This  was,  indeed,  their  first  entrance  into  Illinois — then  a 
territory — in  which  Mr.  Peck  and  family  were  destined  to 
spend  the  greater  part  of  their  long  and  useful  lives.  How 
full  of  morally  sublime  interest,  now  that  we  can  look  back 
upon  the  whole  history,  w^as  this  entrance  on  his  field  I  Not 
Ca3sar  and  his  legions  crossing  the  Rubicon  involved  interests 
so  vast  and  blessed,  as  the  humble  transit  of  that  little  cov- 
ered wagon  with  its  precious  contents  over  the  swollen  flood 
of  the  beautiful  Ohio  on  the  evening  of  that  dark  November 


THREATENING    DELUGE.  15 

day.    To  the  eye  of  sense  how  insignificant !    But  faith  invests 
the  scene  and  its  results  with  new  and  hallowed  attractions. 


Friday,  November  Ifh.  "Weather  'cloudy,  with  some  rain.  AVe 
are  now  at  the  public  house  kept  by  Dr.  H.  Oldham,  where  we  are 
lying  an  expense,  waiting  for  a  turn  of  weather  incur  favor.  Gen- 
tlemen, lately  from  St.  Louis  and  Kaskaskia,  represent  the  roads  for 
fifty  miles  as  extremely  bad ;  but,  as  every  Idnd  of  carriage  is  pass- 
ing, we  apprehend  no  insuperable  diflSculty.  0  Lord,  preserve  us 
from  harm ! 

Met  with  Mr.  Paine,  my  brother-in-law,  who  has  been  waiting  here 
for  us  nearly  three  weeks.  He  is  designing  to  accompany  us  to 
St.  Louis. 

The  waters  in  the  Ohio  are  still  rising  rapidly.  Should  the  banks 
become  full,  this  village  must  be  overflowed.  Immense  quantities 
of  driftwood  are  floating  down  the  river,  rendering  the  crossing 
very  difiicult. 

In  the  evening  I  preached,  at  the  house  where  we  lodge,  to  a 
goodly  number  of  people,  from  Acts  xiii.  26,  last  clause.  A  decent 
and  solemn  attention  was  given.  Oh,  that  the  word  of  salvation 
may  be  sent  with  power  to  the  people  of  this  village  ! 

Saturday,  8th.  Through  the  whole  night  the  rain  has  fallen  in 
torrents,  and  continues  to  pour  down.  The  river  has  risen  the  past 
night  between  two  and  three  feet,  with  the  certain  prospect  of  over- 
flowing the  town,  should  it  long  continue  to  rise.  What  is  to  be 
done,  I  know  not.  In  addition  to  the  deep  mud,  hitherto  our  chief 
obstacle,  we  are  now  to  encounter  the  swollen  creeks  and  rivers,  ren- 
dered, for  some  days  at  least,  impassible.  Still  I  am  not  disheart- 
ened. Divine  Providence  will  open  someway  for  our  relief.  Should 
a  convenient  boat  come  down  the  river,  bound  for  St.  Louis,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  it  will  be  best  to  send  on  my  family  by  water. 

Evening.  The  rain  has  continued  unabated,  and  the  river  rises 
rapidly,  threatening  to  deluge  the  town.  Several  times  it  has  been 
overflowed  and  destroyed  by  water,  but  alwaj^s  in  the  spring.  Never 
was  it  known  to  rise  so  high  at  this  season  of  the  year  before.  Back 
of  the  town,  only  one-half  mile  distant,  the  water  has  become  so 
deep  as  to  be  impassible  with  our  wagon.  Just  at  sunset  there  was 
a  breaking  away  of  the  clouds  in  the  west,  indicating  fair  weather 
to-morrow.  But  passing  is  impossible  until  the  waters  on  our  road 
are  fallen.  Here  we  are  obliged  to  remain  till  the  providence  of 
God  shall  relieve  us  from  our  present  perplexed  condition. 


76  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

I  stepped  into  a  grocery  where  Nvere  assembled  a  number  of  wild 
fellows,  swearing  and  blaspheming  at  a  most  horrid  rate.  I  have 
seen  enough  of  ShaM'neetown  to  justify  what  is  reported  of  it  as  a 
most  abandoned  place.  There  are  some  decent,  clever  families; 
but  I  have  conversed  with  none  who  seem  decidedly  religious.  To- 
morrow will  show  how  the  Sabbath  is  regarded.  I  never  saw  a 
place  more  destitute  of  religious  instruction;  and  yet  unless  very 
prudent  measures  are  pursued,  little  good  can  be  expected  to  result. 

Lord's-day,  9^/i.  At  an  early  hour  a  boat  came  along,  bound  to  St. 
Louis  ;  and,  leaving  Brother  Welch  to  conduct  the  religious  services 
which  had  been  announced,  my  family  and  I  stepped  on  board  it, 
compelled  thereto  by  our  necessity,  as  I  thought,  and  took  our  leave 
of  Shawneetown.  The  arrangement  was  that  Brother  AVelch  and 
W'ife  should  wait  for  the  subsiding  of  the  waters,  and  come  on  by 
land ;  and  my  Brother  Paine  should  take  on  my  horse  and  wagon, 
while  my  wife  and  little  ones  would  be  more  comfortable  in  the  little 
six-by-ten  feet  cabin  of  the  keel-boat,  which  my  family  shared  with 
the  captain,  having  accommodations  for  cooking  and  eating  in  what 
they  call  the  "  midships"  section  of  the  boat.  The  captain,  J.  Nixon, 
appears  very  friendly,  and  is  to  carry  me  and  my  family  to  St.  Louis 
for  twenty-five  dollars.  The  hands  are  young  men,  going  into  the 
Western  country,  and  as  yet  conduct  themselves  with  decent  civ- 
ility. Though  a  little  crowded,  we  feel  ourselves  comfortable  and 
happy.  DowTi  the  Ohio  we  are  pleasantly  floating  with  the  gentle 
current,  while  nothing  opposes  our  course  but  a  slight-breeze  from 
the  west,  which  only  renders  our  passage  more  agreeable.  Thp 
banks  present  little  diversity  for  a  considerable  distance  except  a 
few  moderate  hills  on  the  IlUnois  side.  The  flat  country  back  from 
the  river  is  now  overflowed.    The  day  is  given  to  devout  meditation. 

Evening.  The  sun  has  just  set  behind  the  woods  of  Illinois,  ex- 
hibiting a  most  beautiful  sight  after  so  much  bad  weather.  In  a 
figure,  I  seem  to  see  in  it  Jesus,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  shining 
upon  the  last  hours  of  the  dying  saint,  whose  hope  is  in  the 
Redeemer,  and  whose  glory  then  begins.  With  much  pain  I  reflect 
on  the  necessity  which  seemed  to  demand  of  us  such  a  use  of  the 
Lord's  day.  I  can  truly  say  :  "  How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles, 
0  Lord  of  hosts  !  My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts 
of  the  Lord.  While  traveling  by  land,  it  was  not  alwa3rs  prac- 
ticable to  have  regular  morning  and  evening  worship.  Now,  in 
our  little,  retired  cabin,  we  hope  to  regularly  engage  in  this  im- 
portant and  dehghtful  service.  Read  Isaiah  i.  and  united  in  prayer 
with  my  dear  companion. 


CAPTAIN    LOST    IN    THE    WOODS.  Tt 

Monday,  10th.  Weather  delightfully  pleasant.  Some  of  the  time 
the  wind  is  in  our  favor.  We  ran  with  the  current  all  the  last  night, 
and  a  little  after  sunrise  found  ourselves  opposite  the  mouth  of  i.he 
Cumberland  river.  About  noon  we  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Ten- 
nessee. Soon  after  we  stopped  at  Fort  Massac,  on  the  Illinois  shore, 
seeking  for  boat-stores,  but  could  obtain  nothing  but  potatoes. 
Most  of  the  way  the  banks  are  low  on  each  side,  and  the  country 
overflowed  at  the  present  high  water.  In  some  few  places,  however, 
the  banks  are  bold,  and  the  country  back  swells  into  gentle-rising 
grounds.  Most  of  it  is  still  in  the  state  of  nature,  through  which 
the  w^olf  and  bear  roam  and  the  timid  deer  frisks  its  light  gambols. 

We  are  happy  in  our  situation,  though  destitute  of  many  ordinary 
comforts.  Confined  in  a  small  keel-boat,  with  few  utensils  for  cook- 
ing, our  fare  coarse  and,  in  the  article  of  bread,  scanty,  yet  we  are 
far  from  complaining.  Ours  is  destined  to  be  a  life  of  privation, 
trial,  and  hardship.  All  this  I  anticipated  before  engaging  in  the 
missionary  work.  I  now  begin  again  to  feel  the  same  devotion  to 
the  cause,  and  the  same  willingness  to  be  a  sufferer,  if  that  will 
advance  the  cause  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  used  to  animate  me. 

Towards  night  the  clouds  gathered,  and  a  storm  seemed  coming 
on.  Our  boat  is  heavily  loaded,  and  the  prospect  induced  our 
captain  to  put  in  shore,  and  he  for  the  night,  under  a  hill  on  the 
Illinois  side. 

Tuesday,  11th.  Last  night  proved  rainy,  with  some  wind,  and 
much  thunder  and  hghtning.  This  morning  the  wind  and  rain 
keep  us  in  harbor.  My  fears  are  not  a  little  awakened  for  the 
comfort  and  safety  of  Brother  and  Sister  Welch.  They  have  to 
make  their  way  overland ;  but  if  stormy  weather  continues,  their 
journey  must  be  extremely  uncomfortable,  even  if  the  roads  should 
be  passable.  Through  the  day  the  rain  continued  to  fall  copiously. 
and  the  wind  blew  so  hard  that  we  did  not  venture  to  proceed, 
('aptain  Nixon,  who  commands  the  boat,  in  the  morning  took  his 
gun  and  went  out  for  game.  At  dark  he  had  not  returned,  which 
excited  considerable  uneasiness,  lest  some  accident  had  befallen 
him.  A  short  distance  from  where  we  are  lying  are  the  ruins  of 
an  old  fort  or  encampment  [Fort  Wilkinson] ,  where  are  the  ruins 
of  several  houses  which  have  been  burned.  Near  by  is  a  burying- 
ground,  where  are  multitudes  of  graves.  We  were  informed  by  a 
young  man  that  it  was  a  fortification,  occupied  in  1801,  but  evacu- 
ated  on  account  of  the  sickly  condition  of  the  troops  stationed  there. 
Near  sunset  the  rain  ceased,  and  prospects  of  fine  weather  cheered 

*8. 


Y8  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.   TF-CK. 

"Wedhcsclay,  12th.  Last  niglit  \Yas  the  most  dismal  Ave  have  yet 
experienced.  The  wind  began  to  rise  in  the  evening,  and  con- 
tinued to  increase  until  it  blew  a  gale.  It  was  from  the  southwest, 
and  from  that  quarter  alone  Ave  were  unsheltered.  It  was  found 
necessary  to  moor  both  head  and  stern  of  our  boat,  which  was  done 
by  fixing  strong  ropes  to  small  trees  and  saphngs,  the  yielding  of 
which  to  the  strain  gave  us  some  play.  We  were  under  fearful 
apprehension  of  breaking  from  these  moorings,  in  which  case  our 
wreck  on  the  shore  or  against  some  huge  tree  would  be  inevitable. 
Our  skiff  drifted  from  the  boat,  and  we  expected  we  would  be  stove 
or  lost.  These  gloomy  prospects,  in  the  absence  of  the  captain, 
whose  skill  was  now  so  necessary,  seemed  fearfully  depressing. 
Every  countenance  was  covered  with  gloom.  Y^t  even  in  the 
midst  of  all  this  I  found  comfort  in  the  reflection  that  the  winds 
and  waves  are  under  the  Divine  guidance ;  that  even  the  smallest 
events  occupy  a  special  place  under  the  economy  of  God's  provi- 
dence. Immediately  after  breakfast  we  agreed  that  assistance  sliould 
be  obtained  from  the  only  two  families  living  within  twelye  miles, 
and  that  such  of  the  hands  as  could  be  spared  from  the  boat  should 
go  in  search  of  the  captain.  I  volunteered  to  go  with  one  sconting- 
party,  and  spent  most  of  the  day  searching  the  woods,  but  without 
success.  Nor  were  the  others  more  fortunate.  One  party,  hoAvever, 
had  the.  good  luck  to  kill  a  deer,  whose  meat  was  a  seasonable  supply. 
About  four  o'clock,  afternoon,  the  captain  arrived,  quite  worn-out 
with  fatigue  and  liunger.  HaA^ng  lost  his  way  yesterday  while 
eagerly  following  a  deer  which  he  had  shot,  he  wandered  about 
among  dismal  SAvamps  and  ponds  till  night,  when  he  AA-as  obliged  to 
stop.  In  the  morning  he  directed  his  course  by  the  sun.  After 
swimming  one  wide  sheet  of  water,  and  wading  through  several 
others,  he  at  length  reached  a  path  Avhich  enabled  him  to  find  his 
Avay  out.  Late  in  the  afternoon  the  wind  died  away,  promising  us 
a  still  night.  Thus  after  all  our  threatening  discouragements  we 
again  have  pleasant  prospects,  and  are  enabled  to  rear  our  Ebenezer. 
"Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  iis." 

Thursday,  13^/i.  The  Aveather  proves  delightful— a  little  frosty  and 
C(ld.  Soon  after  sunrise  the  boat  was  on  her  way  again,  moving 
w  th  all  the  velocity  Avhich  the  SAvollen  current  could  give.  'Jlie 
banks  on  each  side  are  Ioav,  except  some  bluffs  on  the  right  or 
Illinois  shore.  Many  places  were  overflowed  by  the  high  water. 
Now  and  then  a  solitary  cottage  gave  variety  to  the  scene.  At 
eleven  and  a  half  o'clock  the  majestic  Mississippi  presented  itself 
before  us.     The  land  on  every  side  appeared  too  low  to  admit  of 


SABBATH    PRIVATIONS   IN    TRAVELING.  Y9 

much  settlement.  Opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  on  the  Mis- 
souri shore,  were  a  few  houses  and  an  encampment  of  soldiers. 
Got  up  our  sail,  after  considerable  delay,  and  w^ere  wafted  about 
five  miles  up  the  river,  and  came  to  under  the  east  shore. 

Friday,  14^/j.  Weather  rainy.  About  sunrise  the  boat  was  under 
weigh  again,  proceeding  up  the  Mississippi.  Various  methods  are 
employed  in  propelling  a  boat  against  the  current  in  these  large 
rivers.  When  the  wind  is  favorable  the  sail  is  used ;  but  often  we  are 
obUged  to  creep  along  shore,  and  by  the  help  of  oars,  or  long  poles, 
and  sometimes  by  catching  hold  of  bushes,  the  men  are  enabled  to 
drag  the  boat  along.  In  some  cases,  where  the  banks  are  sufficiently 
high,  a  rope  of  a  hundred  fathoms  length  is  attached  to  the  top  of 
the  mast,  and'men  walking  on  the  shore  drag  the  boat  after  them. 
A  little  past  noon  the  wind  and  rain  obliged  us  to  he  to,  under  the 
Missouri  shore,  where  we  spent  the  night. 

Saturday,  loth.  The  day  fair,  the  air  cool,  and  all  things  favorable, 
for  an  early  departure.  We  are  now  proceeding  around  the  great 
bend  which  the  Mississippi  makes  in  this  part  of  its  course,  and 
which  is  very  accurately  dehneated  on  Mellish's  new  map  of  the 
United  States.  The  flood-water  of  the  Ohio  sets  far  up  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  neutralizes  the  current  so  as  not  much  to  impede  our 
progress. 

Lord's-day,  16th.  Cloudy,  cold,  Avith  wind  from  northeast,  bring- 
ing some  flakes  of  snow,  or  rather  hail.  None  but  those  deprived' 
of  the  privileges  of  the  sanctuary  can  duly  appreciate  the  blessed 
enjoyment  of  meeting  with  the  people  of  God.  David  seems  clearly 
to  intimate  this  in  the  eighty-fourth  psalm,  where  he  envies  even 
the  swallow  who,  through  the  desertion  of  the  altar-worship,  nestled 
in  the  sacred  place.  This  day,  as  the  last  Sabbath,  must  be  spent 
on  board  the  boat ;  but,  oh,  let  a  proper  remembrance  of  it  be  im- 
pressed upon  my  heart !  Enjo^'ed  some  freedom  while  engaged  in 
secret  devotion.  Towards  noon,  the  boat  being  near  the  Missouri 
shore,  I  went  on  shore  at  a  small  settlement.  Here  I  found  two 
families  of  Baptists,  and  from  them  obtained  considerable  informa- 
tion respecting  religion  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  There  is  a 
Baptist  church  about  fifteen  miles  above,  where  a  Mr.  Edwards 
preaches  to-day.  Oh,  that  I  were  there  to  aid  him  in  declaring  the 
name  of  Jesus  ! 

Monday,  11th.  Called  at  a  house  on  shore  to  inquire  for  provisions, 
and  learned  from  the  people  that  there  is  a  great  opening  in  this 
region  for  schools.  My  thoughts  are  much  exercised  on  some  sys- 
tematic plan  to  be  formed  for  plaiiting  and  sustaining  schools  in  all 


80  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

this  country.  How  much  wisdom  is  requisite  to  originate  a  judi- 
cious system  promotive  of  the  cause  in  which  I  am  engaged ! 

Our  progress  up  the  river  is  slow  and  often  retarded.  We  get 
forward  not  more  than  eight  or  ten  miles  a  day.  About  two  o'clock 
the  boatman  ran  on  a  cleft  of  rocks,  which  threatened  serious  in- 
jury, but,  through  a  merciful  Providence,  we  at  last  got  off  safe. 
The  land  on  each  side  of  the  river  here  assumes  an  aspect  unlike 
that  below.  Moderate  hills  give  a  pleasing  variety  to  the  scenery, 
while  the  rugged  rocks  projecting  from  the  banks  remind  the  trav- 
eler of  dear  New  England.  We  are  now  just  below  Ross  point, 
where  several  Baptists  reside. 

Tuesda;^ ,  18th.  Cloudy  and  cold.  The  ground  is  frozen  in  many 
places.  Last  evening  we  lay  a  little  above  Ross's  Ferry.  Called  on 
Mr.  Ross,  a  Baptist,  and  Mr.  Edwards,  a  Baptist  minister,  in  this 
region.  Was  agreeably  surprised  to  learn  that  there  were  seven 
churches  associated  in  this  part  of  the  territory  of  Missouri.  Here 
is  a  vast  field  for  labor,  and  the  w^ork  is  already  commenced. 

AYednesday,  19^7i.  To-day  we  passed  Cape  Girardeau.  At  night, 
when  the  boat  was  moored,  I  went  ashore  to  walk  back  to  the  Cape, 
which  was  thought  to  be  only  a  mile  and  a  half  distant.  It  proved 
to  be  three  miles.  Walking  there  and  back  the  same  evening,  the 
exertion  was  too  much  for  my  feeble  frame.  This  overdoing,  with 
a  severe  cold  which  I  have  recently  taken,  has  thrown  me  into  a 
fever,  which  now  confines  me,  and  threatens  some  severe  sickness. 


[NTERRUPTION  OF  JOLRNAL  BY  ILLNESS.        81 


CHAPTER    YIL 

KJt.  Louis — its  condition  forty  years  since. 

December  23d.  A  long  blank  here  occurs  in  my  journal.  We 
arrived  here  December  let.  Near  Cape  Girardeau  sickness  nieized 
me,  and  I  have  been  unable  to  write.  I  am  even  now  in  a  critical 
situation.  My  disorder  threatens  to  be  of  a  pulmonary  character. 
Our  trials  are  great,  but  we  try  to  bear  with  patience.  I  have  con- 
sulted a  skilful  medical  man,  and  he  advised  me  to  piit  myself  im- 
mediately under  the  care  of  some  regular  physician  in  the  place  for 
a  thorough  course  of  medicine. 

The  above  entry  bears  marks  of  having  been  made  when 
the  writer  was  scarcely  able  to  hold  a  pen,  and  wrote  from  a 
kind  of  forced  necessity.  It  is  followed  by  another  blank  in 
the  journal  almost  as  long.  But  we  have  now  reached  a  point 
where  it  is  possible  to  substitute  the  later  "reminiscences"  of 
Dr.  Peck,  recorded  by  his  own  hand,  and  prepared  by  him  for 
the  public  eye,  instead  of  the  abstract  of  the  journal  which 
the  editor  had  prepared.  These  recollections  of  St.  Louis, 
which  will  occupy  the  present  chapter,  are  prefaced  by  some 
account  of  his  manner  in  reaching  it,  and  they  shall  be  pre- 
sented entire. 

On  two  occasions,  and  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
Great  River,  steamboats  had  passed  up  to  St.  Louis  and  returned 
the  preceding  summer.  The  first  steamboat  that  ascended  the 
Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  was  the  General  Pike, 
commanded  by  Captain  Jacob  Eeed,  which  reached  St.  Louis,  Au- 
gust 2d,  1817.  The  second  was  the  Constitution,  commanded  by 
Captain  R.  P.  Guyard,  which  arrived  October  2d,  the  same  season. 
Captain  G.  was  an  Englishman,  a  professor  of  religion  and  member 
of  a  Baptist  church  before  he  left  his  native  country..  He  was  a 
man  of  great  enterprise  ;  had  followed  the  seas,  as  commander,  with 
success ;  and  came  up  the  Mississippi  from  New  Orleans  with  a 
cargo  for  the  then  remote  French  village  of  St.  Louis. 

TV.P  keel-boat  containinsr  my  family  reached  Cape  Girardeau  on 


82  ^lEXOIR   or   JOHN    M.    PECK. 

the  19th  of  November,  and  passed  on  above  a  point  of  land  where 
the  '■  old  town"  was  situated.  Having  letters  to  persons  in  the 
village,  and  supposing  it  not  to  be  over  two  miles,  I  went  down  in 
tlie  evening,  following  a  trail  that  wound  around  the  bluffs  the  dis- 
tance, as  I  found  on  experiment,  of  nearly  four  miles.  At  the  Cape, 
as  the  village  was  called,  I  was  introduced  to  Hon.  Eichard  Thomas, 
afterwards  a  judge  of  the  circuit  court  in  that  district,  and  several 
other  gentlemen,  and  learned  many  facts  about  that  partof]M»e- 
souri. 

Being  under  the  necessity  of  lodging  on  the  boat,  as  we  started 
at  the  first  appearance  of  daylight,  I  walked  rapidly,  became  fatigued, 
took  a  severe  cold,  and  next  day  found  myself  too  ill  to  leave  the 
cabin.  We  w^ere  ill-provided  with  medicine,  no  physicians  of  course 
to  be  had,  and  suffering  under  a  severe  fever,  while  the  boat  by  the 
hard  labor  of  the  hands  made  about  ten  miles  daily  against  the 
strong  current.  I  heard  from  the  captain  about  the  "  grand  tower," 
the  "devil's  bake-oven,"  the  "boatman's  tea-table,"  aud  other  sin- 
gular formations,  as  we  passed,  but  could  not  see  them.  It  was 
isomewhere  above  these  places  that  a  large  sycamore  had  fallen  from 
the  Missouri  shore  into  the  current,  and  stretched  its  long  arms  into 
the  river  and  down  the  stream.  Around  this  the  boat  had  to  pass 
against  the  foaming,  rushing  current.  All  the  hands  were  on  shore 
tugging  with  all  their  force  at  the  cordelle.  I  could  hear  the  water 
rush  up  the  side  of  the  boat  where  I  lay,  and  knew  there  must  be 
danger,  for  the  captain  at  the  highest  pitch  of  voice  was  calling  to 
the  men,  and,  sailor-like,  swore  profanely,  which  he  never  did  in  my 
hearing  before  or  since.  In  a  few  moments  the  noise  of  the  rushing 
waters  and  the  cry  of  the  captain  ceased.  He  entered  the  Httle 
cabin,  pale,  ghastly,  and  in  a  tremor  though  he  had  the  character 
of  a  brave  and  fearless  man.  Soon  as  he  could  gain  the  powder  of 
utterance,  he  replied  to  our  inquiry,  "What's  the  matter?" — "You 
have  had  a  perilous  escape.  Had  the  cordelle  broke,  or  the  men 
not  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost,  the  boat  w^ould  have  been  in 
the  bottom  of  the  river,  and  no  power  on  earth  could  save  you." 
Aided  by  the  captain,  I  crawled  out  of  the  cabin  to  survey  the  perils 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  boat  lay  safely  moored  to  the  shore  in  an 
eddy,  above  the  body  of  the  tree.  Around  its  top  and  among  its 
huge  limbs  the  water  w^as  rushing  furiously,  and  it  really  seemed 
marvelous  that  we  escaped.  I  resolve  all  such  deliverances  by  a 
firm  belief  in  that  particular  Providence  whose  ceaseless  energy  is 
constantly  employed  in  the  sustenation  and  preservation  of  all  his 
creatures.     How  heathenish  and  unphilosophical  is  it  for  men  of 


FORMKR    METIIOPS    OF    BOATING.  83 

Bcientific  attainments  to  talk,  write,  and  lecture  about  the  "  Laws 
of  Nature,"  as  though  the  mfinite  and  all-creating  God  had  made 
a  universe,  containing  some  of  his  own  essential  attributes — a  sort 
of  machine  that,  when  once  put  in  motion,  can  move  itself  by  its 
own  imaginary  "laws." 

I  recollect  only  one  more  incident  on  our  voyage,  for  I  was  too 
sick  to  make  entries  in  my  journal.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Platin 
creek,  a  few  miles  below  Herculaneum,  is  a  flat  rock  extending 
some  distance  under  the  river.  Here  so  strong  a  current  rushed 
along  shore  that  the  hands  could  not  pull  the  boat  with  the  cor- 
delle,  and  it  fell  back  below  two  or  three  times.  At  last  the  cordelle 
parted,  and  the  boat  fell  below  the  current,  being  kept  in  shore  by 
the  captain  at  the  steering-oar.  The  aid  of  some  men  being  ob- 
tained, the  hands  succeeded  in  getting  the  boat  to  a  safe  landing. 

As  the  keel  boat,  with  the  "last  of  the  boatmen,"  has  passed 
away,  with  other  conveniences  and  appendages  of  pioneer  life,  in 
this  "  age  of  steam,"  many  of  our  readers  will  not  understand  the 
nature  and  mode  of  working  this  craft  without  further  description. 

A  keel-boat  in  shape  very  nearly  resembled  a  canal  boat,  but  with 
a  gunwale  on  each  side  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  in  width.  Besides 
hoisting  a  sail  in  a  favoralile  wind,  especially  when  going  down 
stream,  there  were  three  modes  of  propelling  a  keel-boat  in  passing 
up  stream.  These  were  the  use  of  the  cordelle,  the  setting-pole,  and 
occasionally  bushwhacking. 

Except  in  crossing  a  river,  when  oars  were  used,  the  boat  had  to 
creep  along  shore.  The  cordelle  (French  for  httle  rope)  was  a  long 
rope  fastened  to  the  bow  of  the  boat,  and  drawn  over  the  shoulders 
of  the  men,  who  walked  in  a  stooping  position  along  the  shore.  The 
setting-pole  was  ten  or  twelve  feet  long,  the  lower  end  shod  with 
iron,  and  the  upper  end  terminating  in  a  knob,  which  was  pressed 
against  the  shoulder.  In  using  this  where  the  water  was  of  sufifi- 
cient  depth,  the  men  placed  themselves  on  the  narrow  gunwale, 
with  their  faces  toward  the  stern,  their  heads  bent  low,  and  as  the 
boat  moved  ahead  they  walked  toward  the  stern.  The  one  in  front 
would  turn  about,  pass  the  others,  and  take  his  station  in  the  rear. 
When  the  hands  on  the  gunwale  dropped  their  setting-poles,  and 
caught  the  limbs  and  brush  along  shore,  and  thus  dragged  the  boat 
ahead,  it  was  called  "bushwhacking."  A  long,  heavy  oar,  with  a 
wide  blade,  was  attached  to  the  stern,  and  moved  on  a  pivot,  which 
the  captain  oi  pilot  managed  while  standing  on  the  roof,  or,  in  boat- 
man slang,  the  deck. 

It  was  early  in  the  morning  of  the  first  of  December  we  found 


84  ME."\rOIR    OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

ourselves  lying  about  at  the  foot  of  Elm  street.  Rev;  Mr.  Welch, 
and  wife,  my  colleag-ue,  my  brother-in-law,  with  our  horses,  had 
reached  this  place  a  week  previous,  and  had  made  some  acquaint- 
ances in  the  village.  I  was  still  sick,  with  a  low  intermittent.  He 
had  procured  for  my  family  a  shelter — a  single  room  at  the  corner 
of  Myrtle  and  Main  streets.  It  was  the  only  tenement  that  could 
be  found  in  the  village,  and  had  just  been  vacated  by  the  now  ven- 
erable JSIatthew  Kerr  and  his  partner  Mr.  Bell,  as  a  counting-room. 
There  I  lay  confined  with  illness  two  months.  For  three  weeks  I 
had  no  physician,  knowing  that  such  a  remote  village  would  be  the 
point  to  which  incompetent  persons  might  resort,  and  attempt  to 
act  the  doctor.  The  late  Dr.  Young,  who  came  from  Kentucky,  and 
planted  himself  in  the  present  county  .of  Warren,  and  located  Mar- 
thasville,  came  to  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Welch,  who  knew  him  personally 
in  Kentucky,  as  a  regularly  educated  physician,  brought  him  to  my 
house.  He  recommended  immediate  application  to  Farrar  and 
Walker,  then  practicing  physicians  of  skill  and  fidelity ;  and  Dr. 
Walker  attended  daily,  and  Dr.  Farrar  occasionally,  until  I  was  re- 
stored. 

At  the  commencement  of  1818,  St.  Louis  was  crowded  with  inhab- 
itants, including  families  temporarily  residing  there  for  the  winter. 
Every  house  and  room  that  could  shelter  persons  was  occupied. 
There  was  no  regular  hotel,  nor  were  there  even  boarding-houses, 
that  afforded  nightly  accommodation.  Alexandre  Bellissamekept  a 
French  tavern  at  the  corner  of  Second  and  Myrtle  streets,  where 
farmers  from  the  country  found  food  and  shelter  for  themselves  and 
horses.  The  storekeepers,  most  of  whom  were  without  families,  in 
many  instances,  kept  "bachelor's  hall"  in  their  counting-rooms, 
and  cooked  their  own  meals.  "  Shin-plaster"  currency  abounded. 
The  bills  were  the  droppings  of  the  first  generation  of  banks  insti- 
tuted in  the  far  West  without  any  adequate  specie  basis.  Their 
leaves  were  scattered  over  the  frontiers  like  the  leaves  of  the  trees 
by  an  autumnal  frost,  and  the  price  of  every  article  of  necessity 
(for  articles  of  luxury  were  not  thought  of)  was  high  in  proportion. 

This  bore  heavily  on  us  as  missionaries,  under  sacred  obligations 
to  use  an  economy  bordering  on  parsimony,  in  all  our  expenses.  It 
was  "  California  times"  for  families  to  live  in  St.  Louis  in  those  days. 
The  houses,  shops,  and  stores  were  all  small.  Many  only  one  story, 
and  hmited  to  two  or  three  small  rooms,  were  thought  to  be  quite 
commodious.  For  the  single  room  my  famil^'^  occupied  for  nine 
months,  we  paid  twelve  dollars  per  month.  Mr.  Welch  engaged  a 
room  in  the  rear  of  a  store,  for  school  purposes,  about  fourteen  by 


EXPENSIVENESS   OF   LIVIXQ    IN    ST.  LOUIS.  85 

sixteen  feet,  for  fourteen  dollars  per  month.  Eatables  were  not 
easily  obtained,  and  onl}'  at  extravagant  prices.  Butter  was  from 
thirty-seven  to  fifty  cents  per  pound,  sugar  from  thirty  to  forty 
cents,  coffee  from  sixty-two  to  seventy-five.  Flour  of  an  inferior 
quality  cost  about  twelve  dollars  per  barrel.  Corn  in  the  ear,  for 
horse-feed,  from  one  dollar  to  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per 
bushel.  Pork,  raised  on  the  range,  was  regarded  a  cheap  article  at 
six  to  eight  dollars  per  hundred  pounds.  Chickens  sold  readily  for 
thirty-seven  cents  each,  and  eggs  from  thirty-seven  to  fifty  cents 
the  dozen. 

Oppressive  as  were  the  prices  of  every  article  of  living  in  St.  Louis 
at  the  commencement  of  1818,  and  inconvenient  as  were  our  ac- 
commodations, the  morals  and  religion  of  the  place  were  the  most 
likely  to  awaken  our  attention  and  call  forth  our  sympathies. 

It  is  here  expedient  to  draw  an  accurate  picture  of  St.  Louis  as 
it  appeared  to  the  writer,  during  a  few  months  of  his  early  acquaint- 
ance, in  the  beginning  of  1818.  There  was  a  class  of  gentlemen 
of  the  bar,  the  medical  profession,  merchants,  and  officers  in  civil 
and  military  authority,  Indian  traders,  etc.,  whose  character  and 
behavior,  for  men  of  the  world,  and  destitute  of  any  strong  religious 
principles,  were  not  gross,  but  respectable.  They  played  cards  for 
amusement,  and  of  course  bet  liberally.  They  had  social  "  sprees" 
occasionally,  and  indulged  in  habits  of  conviviality.  Yet  they  ex- 
hibited some  noble  qualities,  were  generous  and  liberal,  and  governed 
by  principles  of  honor.  Some  of  these  men  in  1831,  and  at  subse- 
quent periods,  made  a  profession  of  true  religion,  joined  a  Christian 
church,  and  lived  and  died  as  Christian  men  should  do.  Some,  with 
hoary  heads  and  feeling  the  infirmities  of  age  still  hve,  and  are  hon 
ored,  respected,  and  beloved  by  all  who  know  them. 

We  would  delight  in  giving  the  impressions,  as  among  our  most 
vivid  reminiscences,  made  on  our  mind  from  the  casual  social  inter- 
course, without  any  attempt  at  intimac^^  wath  many  whose  names 
and  peculiar  traits  of  character  come  within  memory's  vision.  But 
the  field  is  too  large,  and  propriety  and  delicacy  forbid  saying  any 
thing.  Of  the  law  profession  there  was  the  late  Judge 'Carr  (Wm.  C), 
Edward  Bates — still  among  us  in  the  vigor  of  his  profession — David 
Barton,  his  brother  Joshua,  who  was  killed  in  a  duel  by  one  of  the 
rectors  in  1823.  This  victim  w^as  an  intelligent  man,  of  a  sprightly 
mind,  and  possessed  many  amiable  qualities,  but  fell  a  sacrifice  to 
the  barbarous  and  unchristian  practice  of  dueling.  There  had  been 
several  duels  within  a  year ;  and  I  gave  out  an  appointment  to 
preach  on  the  "subject  at  my  next  monthly  visit  to  St.  Louis,  with 
8 


86  MEMOIR  .OF    JOHN    M.  PECK. 

the  resolution  that  I  would  not  spare.  In  the  interval  of  time,  two 
more  duels  had  taken  place.  One  had  proved  mortal  to  one  of  the 
party,  from  a  shot  through  the  abdomen;  while  his  antagonist,  who 
escaped  without  a  wound,  took  a  severe  attack  of  fever,  caused, 
probably,  by  the  preternatural  excitement,  and  died  within  a  week. 
My  text  was  from  Isaiah  i.  15,  last  clause  :  ''Yow^  hands  are  full  of 
blood."  The  old  Baptist  church-house,  which  stood  on  the  corner 
of  Third  and  Market  streets,  was  the  place ;  and  it  was  crowded  by 
all  classes,  amongst  whom  I  discovered  the  Hon.  David  Barton,  then 
a  Senator  in  Congress,  w^hose  lamented  brother  was  one  of  the  vic- 
tims, and  the  late  Rev.  Samuel  Mitchell,  whose  eldest  son  was  an- 
other. I  had  taken  the  precaution  to  write  out  every  word  of  my 
discourse.  I  did  my  utmost  to  hold  up  the  practice  of  dueling  to 
the  abhorrence  of  all  right-minded  men,  as  a  crime  of  no  small  mag- 
nitude against  God,  against  man,  against  society. 

The  discourse  made  a  little  "  tow^n-talk"  in  the  village,  and  I  re- 
ceived the  thanks  and  approbation  of  many  citizens.  I  made  no 
personal  reflections,  but  portrayed  to  the  best  of  my  ability  the 
disastrous  effects  of  dueling  on  the  social  relations,  and  the  folly  of 
obtaining  satisfaction  for  injuries  in  such  a  mode. 

But  I  have  wandered  ahead,  and  perhaps  anticipated  events  that 
belong  to  a  future  period  of  these  reminiscences,  and  must  now 
take  the  "  back-track."  And  w^hat  shall  I  say  of  Robert  Wash, 
afterwards  on  the  Supreme  Bench  of  the  State  ;  of  Judge  Tucker, 
who  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  and  had  his  law  office  in  a  hollow  sycamore, 
a  few  miles  east  of  Florissant ;  of  a  Mr.  Cozzens  (his  first  name  for- 
gotten), who  was  assassinated  in  1826  ;  of  James  H.  Peck,  after- 
wards district  judge  of  the  United  States  court ;  and  of  many  others, 
whose  names  for  the  moment  have  escaped  my  memory. 

The  Hon.  Henry  S.  Geyer,  now  (1856)  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
I  thought  was  the  keenest  for  w'it  and  sarcasm,  and  the  most  biting 
satire,  of  any  lawyer  I  had  ever  heard  before  a  jury.  The  distin- 
guished ex-Senator  of  "  thirty  years"  T.  H.  Benton,  who,  whatever  his 
political  friends  or  enemies  maY  think,  has  certainly  made  broad  and 
deep  lines  in  the  political  history  of  this  nation,  was  at  the  bar  in 
St.  Louis  at  the  period  alluded  to  ;  but  it  so  happened,  I  never  heard 
him  make  a  regular  address  to  either  court  or  jury. 

Of  the  physicians,  I  have  already  mentioned  Doctors  Farrar  and 
Walker,  both  kind-hearted,  respectable,  and  highl^^-respected  physi- 
cians. Dr.  Walker  died  early  with  the  bilious  fever — that  common 
and  fatal  disease  that  carried  off  so  many  vigorous  young  men  every 
summer  for  several  3^ears,     Dr.  Farrar  lived  to  an  advanced  period, 


DIFFERENT    CLASSES    OF    EARLY    INHABITxiNTS.  8t 

highly  respected,  and  died  some  half  dozen  years  since.  Dr.  Simp- 
son and  Quarles  kept  a  druggist  shop  and  also  practiced.  Dr.  S. 
is  known  to  many  as  a  kind-hearted  and  good-natured  old  man,  past 
threescore  and  ten,  and  may  be  found  regularly  by  his  old  acquaint- 
ances in  the  counting-room  of  the  Republican  office  about  nine 
o'clock,  A.M.  Then  there  was  Dr.  Garuiort,  who  had  a  respectable 
line  of  practice,  and  the  venerable  Dr.  Saugrain,  who  lived  on  Second 
street,  low  down,  and  kept  a  neat  garden.  He  had  the  confidence 
of  the  French  families,  as  a  physician,  and  I  think  was  something 
of  a  naturalist  and  botanist  in  his  pursuits. 

There  was  another  class  in  St.  Louis  at  the  period  of  these  rem- 
iniscences that  merit  only  that  sort  of  notice  which  will  place  in 
wide  and  vivid  contrast  the  advances  in  morals  and  social  order  by 
the  American  and  French  population.  One-half,  at  least,  of  the 
Anglo-American  population  w^ere  infidels  of  a  low  and  indecent 
grade,  and  utterly  worthless  for  any  useful  purposes  of  society. 
Of  the  class  I  allude  to,  I  cannot  recollect  an  individual  w'ho  was 
reclaimed,  or  became  a  respectable  citizen.  The  reader  will  keep 
m  mind  that  at  that  period,  there  were  no  foreign  emigrants  from 
their  native  country  among  us. 

This  class  despised  and  villified  religion  in  every  form,  were  vul- 
garly profane,  even  to  the  worst  forms  of  blasphemy,  and  poured 
out  scoffings  and  contempt  on  the  few  Christians  in  the  village. 
Their  nightly  orgies  we^^  scenes  of  drunkenness  and  profane  revelry. 
Among  the  frantic  rites  observed  were  the  mock  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  burning  the  Bible.  The  last  ceremony  consisted 
in  raking  a  place  in  the  hot  coals  of  a  wood  fire,  and  burying  therein 
the  book  of  God  wdth  shoutings,  prayers,  and  songs. 

The  boast  was  often  made  that  the  Sabbath. never  had  crossed, 
and  never  should  cross  the  Mississippi.  The  portion  of  the  Anglo- 
American  population  who  had  been  trained  to  religious  habits  in 
early  hfe,  and  manifested  some  respect  for  the  forms  of  worship, 
were  kept  away  from  the  place  of  worship  by  an  influence  of  which 
perhaps  they  were  not  fully  conscious.  Though  the  profane  ribaldry 
of  the  class  already  noticed  did  not  convince  their  judgments  of 
Ahe  fallacy  of  ail  religion,  it  affected  their  feelings  and  pride  of  char- 
acter. But  there  was  another  class  whose  influence  was  far  more 
efiective,  because  it  carried  with  it  a  degree  of  courtesy,  respecta- 
bility, and  intelligence.  I  refer  to  the  better-informed  French  popu- 
lation. These  constituted  at  least  one-third  of  the  famihes.  They 
were  nominally  Roman  Catholics,  and  their  wives,  sisters,  and  daugh- 
ters adhered  to  the  Catholic  faith,  attended  mas?,  and  went  to  con- 


88  MEMOIR  OF   JOHN    M.  TECK 

fession  regularly.  The  men  attended  church  on  festival  occasions. 
But  every  Frenchman,  with  whom  I  formed  an  acquaintance,  of 
any  intelligence  and  influence,  was  of  the  school  of  French  libera^- 
ists — an  infidel  to  all  Bible  Christianity.  But  they  would  treat 
Chri^itian  people,  and  even  Protestant  ministers  of  the  gospel,  with 
courtesy  and  respect.  Romanism  was  the  religion  of  their  fathers, 
hut  the  casual  correspondence  held  with  France,  where  infidelity  was 
demolishing  the  thrones  of  political  and  religious. despotism,  and 
tearing  up  the  foundations  of  superstition,  led  them  to  regard  all 
religion  as  priestcraft,  necessary  perhaps  for  the  ignorant,  super- 
stitious, and  vicious,  but  wholly  unnecessary  for  a  gentleman — a 
philosopher. 

The  good-natured  jokes  and  hadinage  of  their  French  acquaint- 
ances, and  the  bitter  taunts  of  the  profane  and  drunken  scoffers, 
made  it  unpopular  and  unfashionable  to  be  seen  on  the  way  to 
church  on  Sunday,  except  on  special  occasions. 

The  Sabbath  was  a  day  of  hilarity,  as  in  all  Catholic  countries. 
Mass  was  attended  in  the  morning  by  females  and  illiterate  French- 
men ;  and  in  the  afternoon,  both  French  and  Americans  assembled 
at  each  other's  houses  in  parties  for  social  amu§ement.  Dances, 
billiards,  cards,  and  other  sports,  made  the  pastime.  Four  billiard- 
rooms  were  open  throughout  the  week,  but  on  the  Sabbath  each 
was  crowded  with  visitors  and  gamblers.  "With  few  exceptions,  the 
stores  and  groceries  were  open  on  that  day,  and  in  some  of  them 
more  trading  was  done  then  than  on  any  other  day  in  the  week. 
The  carts  and  wagons  from  the  country  came  to  market,  and  sold 
their  provisions  at  retail  through  the  village. 

Another  source  of  irreligion  may  be  traced  to  officers  in  the 
United  States  Arm^y,  who,  with  few  exceptions,  were  irreligious  them- 
selves, having  vague  notions  of  a  future  state,  with  some  crude 
Universalian  notions  as  the  basis  of  their  own  prospects. 

There  was  one  family  connection  in  St.  Louis,  the  head  of  which 
was  a  prominent  officer  of  Government,  and  who  had  an  influence 
over  many  young  men  in  his  official  relation.  The  influence  of  this 
family  in  demoralization  was  by  no  means  small.  And  when  we 
say  family,  let  no  one  associate  the  idea  of  mothert  wife,  or  sister ; 
for  females  were  not  their  associates,  except  an  abandoned  class. 
It  is  a  singular,  but  Providential  retribution,  that  not  one  of  the 
name  is  now  to  be  found  on  the  city  register.  All  the  old  ones 
have  gone  to  their  graves  and  been  forgotten ;  and  if  any  of  the 
youngfer  branches  are  left,  they  must  be  sought  for  in  other  States. 

It  is  here  proper  to  allude  to  the  great  changes  since  wrought — 


FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCHES   IN   MISSOURI.  89 

partly  by  Ihe  immigration  of  Christian  professors  from  older  States, 
and  partly,  to  the  power  and  grace  of  God,  by  individual  conversion. 
Leaving  ont  the  Germans  and  Irish  of  foreign  birth,  there  are  noyr 
as  great  a  proportion  of  pious  Christian  church-members  and  of 
church-going  people,  in  the  ratio  of  the  vrhole  population,  as  in 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  or  any  other  large  commercial  city  in  our 
country. 

The  Eev.  Salmon  Giddings  was  the  pioneer  missionary  in  St.  Louis, 
and  the  first  minister  of  the  gospel  who  preached  there  in  view  of 
a  permanent  location.  Baptists  and  Methodists,  though  scattered 
throughout  the  country,  had  never  preached  the  gospel  in  this 
town.  Messrs.  Mills  and  Smith,  as  evangelical  explorers,  visited 
and  preached  in  St.  Louis  in  November,  1814.  The  late  Eev.  Dr. 
Blackburn,  of  Tennessee,  made  a  visit  to  this  remote  village  the 
preceding  summer,  and  preached  to  an  audience  respectable  for 
numbers.  This  lo as  the  first  gospel  sermon  ever  preached  in  the 
town,  for  I  never  call  the  addresses  of  Eomanists  gospel  preaching. 

The  labors  of  Mr.  Giddings  for  eighteen  months  were  wholly  itin- 
erant, in  which  he  visited  most  of  the  villages  and  settlements  on 
both  sides  of  the  Mississippi.  One  object  of  these  labors  kept  in 
view  was  to  search  out  persons  who  had  been  members  of  Presby- 
terian churches,  and,  as  wandering  sheep,  to  gather  them  into  the 
fold.  The  first  church  he  gathered  was  in  Bellevue  settlement, 
Washington  county,  about  ten  miles  south  of  Potosi.  There  a 
colony  of  Presbyterians  had  settled.  This  was  on  the  2d  of  August^ 
1816.  It  was  the  first  Presbyterian  congregation  ever  gathered 
west  of  the  Great  Eiver,  and  consisted  of  thirty  communicants 
The  next  was  the  church  in  Bonhomme,  thirty  miles  west  of  St. 
Louis,  and  included  sixteen  communicants.  The  third  was  the  First 
Presbyterian  church  in  St.  Louis,  of  ten  members,  formed  in  Novem- 
ber, 1817,  to  which  he  ministered  as  stated  supply  and  pastor  tiU 
his  death.  He  did  not  confine  his  labors  wholly  to  the  town,  but 
continued  to  itinerate,  occasionally  visiting  the  villages  and  settle- 
ments. For  four  years  he  supplied  the  church  in  St.  Louis  one- 
lialf  the  Sabbaths,  and  during  ten  years  he  gathered  five  churches 
in  Missouri  ^and  six  in  Illinois.  He  was  one  of  the  most  quiet,  pa- 
tient, plodding,  self-denying  and  faithful  missionaries  the  Presbyte- 
rians, or  Congregationalists,  ever  sent  into  this  country. 

In  addition  to  the  obstacles  to  the  propagation  of  a  pure  Chris- 
tianity found  in  the  laxity  of  morals,  want  of  reverence  for  the 
Sabbath,  and  disinclination  to  regular  attejidance  on  a  preached 
gospel,  there  is  another  class  which  should  be  noticed.     I  refer  to 


90  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

the  colored  people,  both  free  and  bond.  The  number  of  free  blacks 
and  mulattoes  was  small  in  comparison  to  the  whole  population. 
Of  these,  two  persons,  the  late  J.  B.  Meachum  and  his  first  wife,  were 
Baptists,  and  truly  religious.  Of  the  rest,  some  were  more  moral 
than  others  ;  but  all  alike  were  without  rehgious  instruction.  The 
Sabbath  to  them  was  a  relief  from  toil.  There  was  an  open  space, 
of  a  square  or  more,  between  Main  and  Second  streets,  and  not  far 
probably  from  Green  street.  Here  the  negroes  were  accustomed  to 
assemble  in  the  pleasant  afternoons  of  the  Sabbath,'  dance,  drink, 
and  fight,  quite. to  the  annoyance  of  all  seriously-disposed  persons. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1818,  we  had  an  introduction  to  the  late 
William  Clark,  Governor  of  the  Territory,  who  had  been  absent  at 
Washington  city  during  the  winter.  Yf  e  had  letters  of  introduction 
from  distinguished  citizens  of  Kentucky.  The  moral  condition  of 
the  negroes  was  one  topic  of  conversation,  and  the  best  mode  of 
instruction.  The  governor,  alluding  to  the  scenes  of  dancing,  riot, 
drunkenness,  and  fighting  on  the  Sabbath,  already  referred  to,  stated 
that  the  preceding  summer  he  had  to  call  out  a  military  company 
three  times  to  suppress  riots  amongst  this  class.  The  character 
of  negroes  in  general  is  a  tolerably  correct  index  to  that  of  the  white 
population  among  whom  they  reside.  They  are  characteristic  for 
imitation,  and  are  quick  in  catching  the  living  manners,  and  quite 
successful  in  cultivating  the  low  vices  of  their  superiors.  Such  was 
the  condition  of  the  negroes,  which  prompted  us  as  missionaries  to 
make  an  effort  to  reclaim  them  through  religious  instruction. 

The  persons  who  gave  evidence  of  true  piety  in  St.  Louis  at  that 
period  can  be  easily  enumerated.  Of  Presbyterians  of  the  General 
Assembly,  we  have  already  mentioned  ten  as  united  in  covenant- 
relation  in  the  First  Presbyterian  church.  The  most  prominent 
and  influential  of  these  were  the  Hempstead  family.  The  venerable 
patriarch  and  his  wife  lived  five  miles  north  of  the  town  on  the  farm 
where  the  beautiful  cemetery  called  Bellefontaine  is  now  situated. 

He  was  eminently  a  religious  man,  while  by  untiring  industry,  a 
commendable  economy'-,  and  strict  integrity  in  busihess,  he  acquired 
property.  His  eldest  son,  Edward,  was  educated  for  the  bar,  and 
possessed  talents  of  a  high  order.  He  came  to  Missouri  soon  after 
the  treaty  of  cession,  probably  as  early  as  1806  or  1807.  Three  other 
brothers  came  soon  after.   In  1811,  the  father  with  his  family  arrived. 

jVlr.  Hempstead  was  active  in  correspondence  with  clergymen  and 
others  in  the  Eastern  States  to  obtain  a  Protestant  minister.  He 
obtained  a  box  of  Bibles  from  the  Connecticut  Bible  Society,  rode 
over  the  ccui.try,  visited  the  families  and  supphed  them  with  copies 


EAULY    BAPTISTS   AND    METHODISTS    IN    ST.  LOUIS.  91 

ot  the  Word  of  God.  Previous  to  that  effort,  in  1814,  no  Bibles 
could  be  obtained  on  this  remote  frontier..  The  only  chance  for  a 
family  to  obtain  a  copy  was  to  send  by  some  friend  or  neighbor,  who 
was  about  to  journey  to  the  old  States,  to  purchase  them  a  Bible  and 
bring  it  in  the  saddle-bags.  During  the  period  of  his  residence  in 
the  country,  he  was  active  in  "  works  of  faith  and  labors  of  love  ;" 
sought  out  and  administered  to  the  sick,  the  poor,  and  the  friendless, 
and  prayed  with  the  bereaved  and  distressed.  He  was  ordained  the 
first  ruUng  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  became  a  prom- 
inent pillar  therein. 

The  most  prominent  Baptist  in  St.  Louis  was  John  Jacohy,  who 
carried  on  the  business  of  a  saddler  and  harness-maker.  Mr.  Jacoby 
was  a  native  of  Yirginia,  born  in  1781,  but  his  parents  migrated  to 
Kentucky  when  he  was  a  small  child,  where  at  an  early  age  he  left 
his  father,  and  was  bound  to  a  trade.  After  serving  out  his  appren- 
ticeship, with  honor  to  himself  and  -fidelity  to  his  master,  he  com- 
menced business,  and,  in  1806,  married  Miss  Jane  Starks..  He  was 
exemplary  in  morals,  but  remained  a  stranger  to  the  power  and  con- 
solation of  the  gospel  till  1810,  when  the  death  of  his  two  eldest 
children  became  such  an  admonition  of  Providence  as  led  him. 
and  his  wife  to  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  to  hope  in  his  mercy. 
This  was  in  October,  1811.  The  next  April  he  and  his  wife  were 
baptized,  and  joined  the  Little  Huston  church  in  Bourbon"  county. 
He  emigrated  to  St.  Louis  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  and  commenced 
business  under  flattering  prospects.  His  character  for  industry, 
sobriety,  and  unwavering  integrity  in  business,  soon  gained  him  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  citizens.  He  became  one  of  the  con- 
stituents of -the  Baptist  church;  was  soon  after  elected  deacon,  and 
took  a  deep  and  active  interest  in  all  its  affairs. 

In  the  autumn  of  1820,  he  gave  possession  of  his  position  to  Mr. 
Thornton  Grimsley,  whom  he  raised,  and  removed  his  family  to  St. 
Charles.  He  died  of  a  mahgnant  bilious  fever  on  the  15th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1822,  aged  forty-one  years. 

By  his  death  the  church  in  St.  Louis  lost  one  of  its  main  pillars, 
society  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice 
one  of  its  firm  supporters,  the  poor  and  afflicted  a  sympathizing 
friend,  his  surviving  widow  a  tender  and  affectionate  husband,  and 
his  children  a  worthy  parent. 

At  the  period  of  our  arrival,  there  were  two  young  men  from 
Ireland  who  were  Methodists.  They  are  still  living,  and  well-known 
to  the  citizens  as  the  Messrs.  W.  and  J.  Finney.  In  the  spring,  two 
others  came  and  i  '='.mained  for  a  time.    In  June,  1818,  the  late  Bishop 


92  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

McKendree  made  a  transient  visit  and  preached  once  in  a  building 
used  as  a  court-room.  The  circuit  preachers  made  several  eflforts  to 
organize  a  class  and  bring  St.  Louis  within  the  circuit,  but  without 
success.  Without  a  room  in  which  to  hold  meetings,  and  weekly 
ministrations,  nothing  effective  could  be  done. 

There  was  a  Cumberland  Presbyterian  preacher  and  family  who 
resided  in  the  place  and  kept  a  small  store.  His  name  was  Green 
P.  Rice.  He  preached  in  our  congregation  and  that  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Giddings  whenever  he  could  get  an  opening.  He  appeared  to  be  a 
good  man,  with  promising  talents,  especially  as  an  exhorter,  and 
was  very  desirous  of  establishing  a  church  of  his  own  sect  on  what 
he  considered  very  liberal  principles  of  union.  His  doctrines  would 
compare  well  with  what  I  have  occasionally  heard  from  Baptists 
whose  heads  were  muddy  by  a  mixture  of  metaphysics  with  Bible 
truths.  He  spent  some  time  in  each  sermon  to  show  and  prove 
that  God  had  done  all  he  could  to  save  sinners,  and,  ergo,  if  they 
were  not  saved,  the  Lord  was  not  to  be  blamed.  The  fair  impUca- 
tion  of  such  notions  is  that  if  God  had  not  done  all  he  could  to  save 
sinners,  he  would  have  been  the  guilty  one,  and  they,  poor  innocent 
creatures,  would  have  suffered  wrongfully.  To  such  presumptuous 
nonsense  and  blasphemy  are  men  driven  by  their  vain  efforts  to 
reason  about  matters  of  faith. 

Mr.  Rice  left  St.  Louis  for  Edwardsville  the  next  autumn.  At  a 
subsequent  period  we  heard  of  him  as  a  lawyer  and  a  politician  in 
Alabama. 

RockSprixg,  III.,  Fehruary  28th,  1856. 


MR.  PECK    AND    COLLEAGUE    ACTIVE    IN    THE   CAUSE.  93 


CHAPTER    YIIL 

Early  Evangelizing  Efforts  in  the  West — Recollections  of  towns  in 
Illinois  and  Missouri  in  1818. 

Soon  as  Mr.  Peck  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  the  illness 
whi&h  affected  him  on  his  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  he  and  his  col- 
league, with  their  accustomed  vigor  and  enterprise,  set  them- 
selves to  work  in  various  ways  to  accomplish  the  important 
objects  of  their  mission.  They  rented  a  school-room,  and 
commenced  teaching ;  Avhile  for  want  of  better  accommoda- 
tions, they  occupied  the-  same  room  on  the  Sabbath  and  on 
Wednesday  evening  for  preaching.  In  February,  they  con- 
stituted a  small  church.  In  April,  they  baptized  several  can- 
didates, for  the  first  time,  as  they  thought,  using  the  Great 
Kiver  for  the  solemn  burial  of  believers  with  Christ,  in  the 
ordinance  sanctified  by  his  example  as  well  as  his  command. 
Very  soon  they  opened  a  subscription  for  building  a  church-  ^,^ 
edifice,  and  were  greatly  cheered  by  obtaining  on  it  nearly  .^t^ "' 
three  thousand  dollars.  In  June,  they  had  purchased  an  eligi- 
ble site  and  broken  ground  for  the  building.  Public  exercises 
appropriate  to  laying  the  corner-stone  were  duly  attended. 
Their  day-school  flourished ;  and  not  to  be  outdone  by  their 
Catholic  neighbors,  they  determined,  in  the  lower  department 
of  the  school  at  least,  to  admit  all  who  would  come,  whether 
they  could  pay  for  tuition  or  not.  To  enhance  the  interest  and 
value  of  their  seminary,  Mr.  Peck  commenced  courses  of  popu- 
lar lectures  on  topics  of  chief  interest  in  elementary  instruc- 
tion, wiiich  were  well  attended,  and  were  continued  from  week 
to  week  for  some  time.  In  the  meantime,  they  opened  a 
feunday-school  for  the  instruction  of  colored  children  and 
adults,  and  were  soon  cheered  with  finding  nearly  one  hundred 
names  enrolled  as  pupils.  The  Holy  Spirit's  blessed  influence 
was  manifest  in  this  school  very  graciously,  and  several  were 


94  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

hopefully  converted.  Most  of  these  colored  people  were 
slaves ;  and  though  the  missionaries  were  careful  to  admit 
none  without  the  permission  of  their  masters,  yet  when  the 
religious  influence  began  to  manifest  itself  among  them,  the 
sons  of  Belial  began  to  sound  out  the  notes  of  remonstrance 
and  alarm,  and  some  were  withdrawn  from  the  school.  Their 
success  in  other  respects  also  awakened  some  denominational 
and  other  hostility,  which  for  a  time  considerably  retarded 
their  progress. 

They  sedulously  endeavored  to  unite  all  Protestant  Chris- 
tians in  common  endeavors  for  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of 
Christ.  For  this  purpose  the  monthly  missionary  concert  was 
regularly  attended  as  a  union  meeting,  hold  alternately  in 
Rev.  Mr.  Giddings'  school-room  (which  was  also  his  preaching- 
place)  and  their  own.  The  Cumberland  Prcsb^^terians  and 
Methodists,  Vv^hen  visiting  St.  Louis,  were  often  accommodated 
(as  they  had  then  no  preaching-place)  by  the  Baptist  brethren 
with  the  use  of  their  own  place  of  worship,  even  when  they 
would  have  preferred  to  occupy  it  themselves,  so  anxious  were 
they  to  present  as  unbroken  a  front  as  possible  to  the  pre- 
dominant Komanists. 

Nor  did  they,  by  any  means,  confine  their  efforts  to  the  place 
of  their  residence.  Nearly  every  Sabbath,  and  often  on  the 
week-day,  they  would  ride  forth  among  the  destitute  settle- 
ments, and  fulfill  appointments  for  preaching  which  had 
been  made  for  them,  sometimes  quite  at  a  distance  from 
St.  Louis.  Here  is  introduced  the  account  of  several  tours 
for  evangelizing  purposes,  as  given  by  Mr.  Peck,  from  his  own 
journals. 

As  these  reminiscences  are  not  confined  to  Missouri,  it  is  time 
to  pay  a  little  attention  to  Illinois.  Our  first  visit  from  St.  Louis 
to  this  territory  T^'as  to  the  Badgley  settlement,  in  St.  Clair  county, 
on  the  20th  and  21st  of  June,  to  attend  the  meeting  of  Ogle's  Creek 
church.  This  was  one  of  several  Uttle  churches  that  had  originated 
from  a  general  rupture  among  the  churches  on  the  western  side  of 
this  territory  in  1810.  At  the  period  of  our  visit,  there  were  three 
parties  of  Baptists  in  Illinois  that  had  about  the  same  fraternal  in 


CHURCH    MEETINGS — STATE    ORGANIZATION.  95 

t(;fCOursG  with  each  other  as  the  Jews  and  Samaritans  of  the  old 
time.  Ostensibly  the  question  of  correspondence  with  slaveholding 
churches  in  Kentucky  was  the  bone  of  contention ;  but  the  fact  is 
there  wgre  a  few  impracticable  men  who  aspired  to  be  leaders,  who 
had  been  quarrelsome  from  the  beginning.  We  have  the  old  records 
of  half  a  dozen  of  these  churches,  which  have  been  extinct  for  a 
long  time,  and  these  teU  a  monthly  story  of  bickerings,  "hurts," 
and  complaints — imperfect  as  these  records  were  kept.  Among  tho 
singular  and  mischievous  "  rules"  introduced,  one  was  requiring  a 
unanimous  vote  on  all  matters  "  touching  fellowship."  This  was 
called  "  working  by  oneness."  One  selfish  or  headstrong  man  or 
woman  could  keep  a  little  church  in  a  state  of  turmoil  for  a  twelve- 
month: an  admirable  method  of  keeping  "the  unity  of  the  Spirit 
in  the  bond  of  peace."  Allied  to  this  was  a  rule  of  decorum  which, 
whether  written  or  unwritten,  was  always  put  in  force  by  a  class  of 
preachers.  Upon  the  opening  of  church-meeting,  the  first  question 
was  to  inquire  "  if  all  were  in  peace."  This,  when  practically  trans- 
lated, always  meant :  "  Now,  brethren,  think  over  your  grievances 
and  'hurts,'  and  see  if  you  can  furnish  any  cause  of  complaint 
against  a  brother  or  sister."  It  is  astonishing  to  notice  what  trifling 
things  made  these  "hurts  :"  for  this  was  the  slang  term  to  express 
their  grievances.  The  most  frivolous  and  insignificant  charges 
would  get  into  the  church  through  this  back-door.  It  is  really 
Providential  that  not  one  of  these  litigious  communities  have  had 
a  permanent  existence ;  but  the  effects  of  the  spirit  indulged  and  ^. 
the  habits  formed  remained  a  long  time,  to  the  grievance  and  an^  ■ 
noyance  of  pure  Christianity.  "We  preached  twice  on  this  visit, 
and  W' as  kindly  received. 

Our  next  visit  to  Illinois  was  on  business,  but  it  was  at  the  old 
town  of  Kaskaskia,  and  during  the  session  of  the  convention,  then 
organizing  a  State  Government.  I  rode  on  horseback  along  the 
American  Bottom,  through  the  ancient  village  of  Cahokia  (or  as 
called  by  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  ''Notre  Dame  des  Kaholaas.'') 
Adjacent  to  it,  on  the  south  side  of  the  creek  that  came  in  from 
the  bluffs  and  gave  its  name,  was  the  little  hamlet  of  Prairie  da 
Pont.  The  "  Caoquias"  and  "  Tamaroas"  Indians  occupied  these 
villages  when  Charlevoix  visited  them  in  1721.  Here  were  located 
two  ecclesiastics  from  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  who  had  been  stu- 
dents under  Charlevoix.  I  followed  the  trace  leading  over  the  hills 
of  Monroe  county  to  the  old  "Whiteside  station,"  where  I  called 
on  the  venerable  widow  and  received  her  hospitahty. 

The  Whiteside  connection  originated  from  Amherst  county,  Ya., 


96  MEMuiR  or  jonx  m.  peck. 

from  ^vhence  they  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  and  from  thence  to  Il- 
linois and  Missouri.  Colonel  William  Whiteside,  ■v\ho  had  died  a 
year  or  two  previous  to  jhy  visit  to  his  widow,  though  not  a  public 
speaker,  was  a  leader  among  the  early  Baptists  in  Illinois.  His 
name  occurs  as  clerk  in  the  church,  and  other  meetings,  for  many 
years  ;  and  the  neat  plain  hand  he  wrote,  and  the  structure  of  his 
sentences,  shows  him  to  have  been  an  able  and  useful  clerk.  Ho 
was  also  selected  as  a  leader  in  the  parties  of  defense,  during  the 
Indian  assaults  from  1786  to  1796.  His  house,  with  others  attached, 
was  a  stockade-fort,  and  a  protection  to  his  neighbors  for  many 
years;  and  to  this  day,  "Whiteside's  Station"  is  a  well-known  lo- 
cality in  the  north  part  of  Monroe  county. 

An  hour  before  sunset  found  me  at  the  hospitable  residence  of 
James  Leman,  Sr.  It  was  a  sort  of  half-way  house  between  St.  Louis 
and  Kaskaskia — a  common  stopping-place  or  house  of  "  private  en- 
tertainment" to  all  travelers.  I  had  previously  formed  an  interest- 
ing acquaintance  with  Rev.  James  Lemen,  Jr.,  as  he  then  wrote  his 
name,  and  who  was  then  in  Kaskaskia,  in  the  convention,  engaged 
in  framing  a  code  of  fundamental  laws  for  the  State.  The  old  people 
who  had  emigrated  from  Western  Yirginia  to  the  Illinois  country 
in  1786,  and  were  among  the  first  converts  ever  baptized  in  this 
remote  wilderness,  did  not  seem  to  be  burdened  by  age.  They  were 
hale  and  vigorous  persons,  perhaps  a  little  over  fifty  years,  and  ex- 
hibited the  marks  of  health  and  constitutional  vigor.  Two  or  three 
stalwart  men,  with  large  bone  and  muscle,  six  feet  high,  stood 
around.  I  learned  they  were  two  of  the  youngest  sons,  and  one  a 
son-in-law.  The  appearance  of  these  persons,  with  that  of  others 
seen  on  this  route,  has  any  thing  else  than  evidence  of  a  sickly 
country.  The  men  and  women  who  were  born  here,  and  had  grown 
to  manhood  on  these  prairies,  had  large,  robust  frames,  healthy  con- 
stitutions, and  gave  proof  direct  of  health.  What  was  it  for  them, 
if  an  occasional  shake  of  the  ague,  or  a  touch  of  the  autumn  inter- 
mittent aniioyed  them  for  a  few  days  ?  Since  that  period  I  have 
gathered  statistics  of  those  and  hundreds  of  other  families  among 
the  early  American  settlers  that  prove,  past  contradiction,  that 
Illinois  and  Missouri,  off  the  rivers  and  out  of  the  low  bottoms,  are 
the  healthiest  regions  within  the  United  States. 

Our  conversation  was  chiefly  religious.  Elder  Lemen  was  frank, 
open,  very  decided  in  his  way  ;  but  Idnd,  benevolent,  and  conscien- 
tious. He  preached  nearly  every  Sabbath,  and  often  rode  thirty  or 
forty  miles  to  visit  destitute  settlements.  He  and  family,  and  many 
others  who  lived  in  this  settlement,  had  their  membership  in  Can 


PRAIRIE    DU    ROCIIKR — KASKASKIA.  9T 

Miie  (now  Bethel)  church,  in  the  north  part  of  St.  Clair  county. 
The  distance  was  thirty-six  miles,  which  they  rode  on  horseback. 
The  meetings  were  held  on  alternate  months  in  Cantine,  and  New 
Design  settlements,  the  first  Saturday  and  Sabbath  in  each  month; 
and  for  more  than  ten  years,  neither  sickness,  bad  weather,  much 
less  indolence,  prevented  the  regular  attendance  at  the  church- 
meetings,  w^hich  never  included  less  than  two  days  at  each  meeting. 

Old  Mr.  Lemen  was  a  man  of  remarkable  punctuality.  Family- 
f  rayer  was  attended  regularly,  evening  and  morning.  During  his 
absence  on  his  preaching  excursions,  or  at  any  other  time,  his  wife 
performed  this  duty.  The  two  youngest  sons,  the  able-bodied  men 
already  mentioned,  were  not  then  professors  of  rehgion.     Another 

■ ,  but  he  had  becomq  wild  and  wayward,  and  was  in  an  excluded 

state.  As  the  customary  hour  drew  near  for  family-worship,  both 
parents  requested  the  waiter  to  pray  for  these  sons,  while  tears  and 
sobs  expressed  their  strong,  pious,  parental  feelings. 

Next  morning  found  me  pursuing  a  lonely,  but  pleasant  route, 
for  sixteen  miles,  without  a  house,  to  the  French  village  of  Prairie 
du  Rocher.  This  village  was  located  about  1745,  along  the  Ameri- 
can bottom  and  a  small,  sluggish  creek  adjacent  to  an  imme'nsa 
range  on  Cliff  Rock,  from  whence  its  name.  In  1766,  it  had  four- 
teen families.  It  is  a  low,  unhealthy  situation,  and  about  three 
miles  to  the  southeast  of  the  ruins  of  old  Fort  Chartres.  One  in- 
cident in  this  village  deserves  notice.  The  Jesuit  missionaries  were 
ordered  home  by  their  superior-general,  from  the  Illinois  country, 
about  the  time  of  its  coming  under  the  British  Government  in 
1765.  Father  Meurain  was  the  last,  and  he  was  ordered  away,  but 
at  the  urgent  request  of  the  Kaskaskia  Indians  he  returned  and 
became  their  father-confessor.  lie  died  at  a  very  advanced  age  in 
Prairie  du  Rocher  in  the  year  1778.  He  was  a  learned  man,  and 
left  a  valuable  library  and  a  manuscript  dictionary  of  the  Indian 
and  French  languages  in  twenty-four  volumes. 

Our  business  at  Kaskaskia  had  no  connection  with  government 
affairs,  and  we  spent  only  one  night.  AYe  called  at  the  only  hotel 
kept  in  the  place,  by  Mr.  Bennett,  who  subsequently  became  a  pio- 
neer in  Galena.  We  had  a  slight  acquaintance  with  him  at  St.  Louis, 
but  he  regretted  to  inform  me  that  he  did  not  think  it  possible  to 
accommodate  me.  Every  room  was  occupied,  and  every  bed  had 
two  or  more  lodgers.  I  laughed  at  his  scruples,  and  told  him  I  was 
a  real  missiona»ry,  and  could  camp  on  the  floor  Avith  my  saddle-bags 
for  a  pillow.  At  last  it  occurred  to  him  that  one  of  his  beds  had 
but  one  occupant  that  night,  the  fellow-lodger  being  absent.    It 


9ij  MEMom  or  john  m.  peck. 

was  a  small  room,  and  the  bed,  none  too  wide  for  two,  was  occu- 
pied by  Adolphus  Frederick  Hubbard,  Esq.,  one  of  the  delegates 
from  Gallatin  county.  Mr.  H.  had  seen  me  in  Shawneetown,  and  no 
sooner  was  my  name  announced  to  him  by  the  landlord  than  he  in- 
sisted I  should  share  the  hospitality  of  his  bed.  Being  thus  made 
comfortable,  I  learned  from  my  room-mate  something  of  the  prog- 
ress ]nade  in  the  construction  of  the  new  Government.  There  are 
a  few  incidents,  gathered  at  a  subsequent  period,  that  may  be  ad- 
mitted in  these  reminiscences. 

In  the  formation  of  new  States,  from  territorial  possessions  under 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  but  one  uniform  rule  was 
observed  in  the  pristine  period  of  our  national  history.  Congress, 
under  the  authority  of  the  Constitution,  exercised  the  entire  powers 
of  government.  The  first  step  after  marking  out  the  boundaries 
of  a  new  territory  was  to  endow  the  Governor  and  Judges  with  the 
authority  to  make  a  code  of  laws  for  the  people.  Soon  as  the  gov- 
ernor saw  the  population  and  orderly  habits  of  the  people  justified 
the  measure,  he  made  proclamation,  and  authorized  the  election  of 
the  House  of  Representatives.  This  body  came  together  and  nomi- 
nated certain  citizens — twdce  the  number  to  which  they  were  entitled 
—for  a  "  council,"  or  Senate.  These  names  were  sent  to  the  Presi- 
dent, wdio  made  a  selection,  and  brought  them  before  the  House  for 
confirmation.  The  House  and  the  Council  constituted  the  territo- 
rial Legislature.  In  this  mode  the  territories  of  the  Northwest, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Mississippi,  Orleans  (now  Louisiana),  Upper  Lou- 
isiana (afterward  Missouri),  and  Arkansas,  came  into  existence. 
Each  of  these  territories  became  a  State  by  virtue  of  a  special 
charter  from  Congress ;  conventions  were  elected  by  qualified  voters  ; 
a  constitution  adopted,  and  each  was  received  as  one  of  the  States  in 
union.  Arkansas  was  an  exception  in  forming  a  State  government. 
The  people,  without  law,  formed  a  constitution  in  1836.  It  was  a 
period  of  the  prevalence  of  a  spurious  democracy  or  rather  anarchy, 
which  sets  at  defiance  all  law,  and  claims  what  no  person  has  any 
right,  or  can  possess  under  a  government  of  laws — that  of  popular 
sovereignty.  No  such  fallacy  exists,  or  can  exist,  wherever  the 
boundaries  and  laws  of  a  State,  an  organized  territory,  or  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  United  States  exist. 

But  to  return  to  Illinois.  The  territory  had  been  divided  into 
fifteen  counties,  which,  according  to" population,  sent  thirty-two 
delegates.  St.  Clair  county  being  the  oldest  and  most  populous 
sent  three ;  Madison  and  Gallatin,  being  next  in  population,  sent 
also  three  each. 


IHJNOIS    STATE    ORGANIZED.  99 

Madison,  Bond,  and  Crawford  were  the  three  northern  counties 
across  the  State,  All  north  was  a  wilderness,  and  one-half  of  the 
territory  then  was  supposed  to  be  uninhabitable.  By  a  grant  in 
the  charter  of  1787,  of  the  Northwe&tern  Territory,  five  States, 
within  prescribed  hmits,  could  form  constitutions  and  be  admitted 
into  the  Union  upon  evidence  of  sixty  thousand  inhabitants  ;  but  on 
a  special  act  of  Congress  the  same  district  could  form  a  State  gov- 
ernment on  evidence  of  forty  thousand  population.  Illinois,  by  its 
territorial  legislature,  the  preceding  winter  petitioned  Con^n-ess, 
and  the  charter  was  granted  for  forty  thousand.  Marshals  were 
appointed  in  all  the  counties  to  take  the  census.  As  the  period  of 
their  labors  drew  nigh,  it  became  doubtful  whether  the  requisite 
number  could  be  obtained.  The  public  roads  leading  across  the 
territory  were  watched  ;  families  were  found  that  were  said  to  have 
been  missed  ;■  and  after  every  eflfort  to  make  up  the  number,  it  was 
officially  proclaimed  that  the  rec|uisite  number,  with  some  two  or 
three  hundred  surplus,  had  been  found.  The  emigration  that  season 
was  large  ;  and  no  doubt,  before  the  constitution  was  submitted  to 
Congress  in  December,  some  three  or  four  thousand  additions  were 
made  to  the  population. 

Ehas  Kent  Kane,  Esq.,  of  Kaskaskia,  a  man  of  superior  talents, 
made  the  draft  of  the  Constitution.  Hon.  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  of 
Cahokia,  St.  Clair  county,  was  the  presiding  officer.  William  C. 
Greenup,  Esq., was  Secretary  to  the  body.  In  addition  to  Mr.Thomas, 
John  Massinger,  Esq.,  and  James  Leman,  Jr.,  were  the  delegates 
from  St.  Clair  county.  The  convention  assembled  at  Kaskaskia  in 
July,  and  closed  their  labors  by  signing  the  constitution  they  had 
framed,  on  the  26th  day  of  August. 

In  the  month  of  September,  I  made  two  excursions  into  the  set 
tlcments  south  and  southwest  of  St.  Louis.  The  first  originated  in 
a  misunderstanding  of  both  the  time  and  place  of  the  meeting  of 
the  Bethel  Association. 

]\Iy  first  tour  led  me  into  the  region  about  St.  Michael,  in  what  is 
now  ^Sladison  county.  I  passed  down  the  country,  seeing  only  oc- 
casionally a  log  cabin,  to  Herculaneum,  then  a  river  town,  landing, 
and  a  place  of  some  importance.  It  then  contained  three  or  four 
stores  and  about  thirty  dwelling-houses.  It  was  situated  on  the 
r.avrow,  alluvial  flat -of  the  Joachim  (called  by  the  old  settlers, 
Swaslien.)  The  fiat  on  which  the  village  was  laid  off  was  narrow, 
and  bounded  at  each  end  by  perpendicular  cliff's,  rising  two  hundred 
feet  high,  and  which  formed  cheap  and  natural  towers  for  the  manu- 
facturing of  shot.     The  Fkittin  was  another  stream  that  entered 


100  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

the  Mississippi  a  short  distance  below  the  Joachira.  On  these 
streams  were  several  water-mills  and  distilleries  at  that  early  period. 
Herculaneum  at  that  day,  and  for  several  years  after,  was  the  depot 
for  the  lead  trade  of  the  interior. 

A  few  miles  north,  and  which  we  passed  as  we  came  down  the 
country,  are  sulphur  springs,  which  at  that  period  bid  fair  to  be- 
come a  watering-place  when  the  country  became  settled. 

My  route  lay  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  towards  the  heads  of 
the  Plattin,  to  McCormick's  settlement.  One  object,  never  lost 
sight  of  in  my  travels,  was  to  examine  into  the  condition  of  schools  , 
and  I  found  at  least  three-fourths  of  all  the  masters  and  schools 
were  public  nuisances,  and  ought  to  have  been  indicted  by  the 
Grand  Jury.  Mr.  McCormick,  an  old  settler  in  this  range,  and  re- 
garded by  all  his  neighbors  as  a  sort  of  captain,  to  whom  they 
looked  for  guidance,  thoughabackwoodsman,  with  very  little  school 
education,  had  sound  common-sense,  and  was  determined  to  have 
a  good  school  for  his  large  family  and  the  children  of  his  neigh- 
bors. He  enlisted  some  of  his  friends  in  Herculaneum  to  send  him 
a  "  rale  teacher,"  "  none  of  those  whisky-drinking  Irishmen,.such  as 
got  into  our  settlement  last  year,  or,  sure  as  I'm  a  Methodist,  we'D 
lynch  him  !"  So  Mr.  B.,  who  knew  "  how  the  land  lay"  in  that  set- 
tlement, sent  out  a  Mr.  Bellknapp,  just  from  Connecticut.  Mr.  B. 
was  an  experienced  teacher,  and  being  a  man  of  observation  and 
strong  common-sense,  he  soon  found  out  how  to  manage  some 
thirty  or  forty  stalwart  young  men  and  women. 

Introducing  myself  and  my  object  to  Master  B.,  I  was  invited 
into  one  of  the  most  primitive  school-houses  then  to  be  found  in 
the  Territory  of  Missouri.  I  was  pleased  with  the  regulations,  and 
the  pupils  were  evidently  in  favor  of  the  teacher,  and  they  were 
making  good  progress  under  his  instructions. 

Leaving  the  school-house  I  called  on  Mr.  McCormick,  had  my 
horse  fed,  and  took  dinner.  The  only  preaching  in  the  scattered 
settlements  among  the  hills  was  by  the  Methodists.  The  country 
for  many  miles  was  very  hilly,  and  the  road  I  traveled  a  mere  bridle- 
path— that  is,  a  trail  for  a  single  horse.  I  could  learn  nothing  of 
any  Baptist  association.  Night  found  me  at  a  Mr.  Hale's,  who  kept 
a  house  of  private  entertainment  on  the  wagon-road  from  Mine-au- 
Burton  to  Ste.  Genevieve.  Mr.  H.  was  a  Methodist,  and  could  tell 
me  of  all  the  Methodist  preachers  and  meetings  in  that  part  of  the 
territory,  but  knew  nothing  of  Baptists.  Finally  he  proposed  to 
give  me  directions  in  the  morning  to  a  Baptist  family  who  hved  a 
few  miles  off  the  rar-in  road,  whicb   I  could   reach  by  travoiii^ 


A   SQUATTER   FAMILY.  10 1 

through  a  '''  hurricane"  of  two  or  three  miles  in  extent.  Now  let 
the  reader  know  that  a  "hurricane"  is  a  tract  of  timber  over  which 
a  tornado  has  passed,  crushing  all  the  trees,  and  throwing  them  in 
every  direction. 

Next  morning,  ere  the  sun  appeared,  I  was  on  my  horse  following 
a  devious  horse-trail  over  logs  and  through  brushwood.  About  two 
years  previous,  large  hickory,  oaks,  and  other  timber,  two  or  three 
feet  in  diameter,  had  been  twisted  from  the  stump,  often  splintered 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  then  thrown  in  every  direc- 
tion. The  width  in  a  direct  hne  did  not  exceed  one  mile ;  but  the 
pathway  was  so  devious,  and  it  was  so  difficult  for  the  horse  to 
lump  over  the  fallen  timber,  that  two  hours  time  passed  away  be- 
fore I  gained  the  distance. 

About  nine  o'clock  I  found  the  family  to  which  I  was  directed. 
As  this  family  was  a  specimen  of  the  squatter  race  found  on  tho 
extreme  frontiers  in  early  times,  some  specific  description  may 
amuse  the  reader,  for  I  do  not  think  a  duplicate  can  now  be  found 
within  the  boundaries  of  Missouri,  The  single  log-cabin,  of  the 
most  primitive  structure,  was  situated  at  some  distance  within  the 
cornfield.  In  and  around  it  were  the  patriarchal  head  and  his  wife, 
two  married  daughters  and  their  husbands,  with  three  or  four  little 
children,  and  a  son  and  daughter  gro^\Ti  up  to  manhood  and  woman- 
nood.  The  old  man  said  he  could  read  but  "  mighty  poorly."  The 
old  woman  wanted  a  hyme  book,  but  could  not  read  one.  The  rest 
of  this  romantic  household  had  no  use  for  books  or  "  any  such 
trash."  I  had  introduced  myself  as  a  Baptist  preacher,  traveling 
through  the  country  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  people.  The  old 
man  and  his  wife  were  Baptists,  at  least  had  been  members  of  some 
Baptist  church  when  they  lived  "  in  the  settlements."  The  "  set- 
tlements" with  this  class  in  those  days  meant  the  back  parts  of 
Virginia  and  the  Carolina?,  and  in  some  instances  the  older  sections 
of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  where  they  had  lived  in  their  earlier 
days.  But  it  was  "  a  mighty  poor  chance"  for  Baptist  preaching 
where  they  lived.  The  old  man  could  tell  me  of  a  Baptist  meeting 
he  had  been  at  on  the  St.  Francois,  and  could  direct  me  to  Elder 
Farrar's  residence  near  St.  Michael.  The  old  woman  and  the  young 
folks  had  not  seen  a  Baptist  preacher  since  they  had  lived  in  the 
*  territory  some  eight  or  ten  years.  Occasionally  they  had  been  to 
a  Methodist  meeting.  This  was  the  condition  of  a  numerous  class 
of  people  then  scattered  over  the  frontier  settlements  of  Missouri. 
The  "traveling  missionary"  was  received  with  all  the  hospitality 
the  old  people  had  the  ability  or  knewhow  to  exercise.   The  younger 


102  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

class  were  sliy  and  kept  out  of  the  cabin,  and  could  not  be  per- 
suaded to  come  in  to  hear  the  missionary-  read  the  Scriptures  and 
offer  a  prayer.  There  was  evidence  of  backwardness,  or  some  other 
propensity,  attending  all  the  domestic  arrangements.  It  was  nine 
o'clock  when  I  reached  the  squatter's  cabin,  and  yet  no  prepara- 
tions had  been  made  for  breakfast.  The  beds,  such  as  they  were, 
remained  in  the  same  condition  as  when  the  lodgers  first  crawled 
from  their  nests  in  the  morning.  The  3' oung  women  appeared  hst- 
less.  Their  heads,  faces,  hands,  clothing,  all  indicated  slothfulness 
and  habitual  neglect.  Soon  the  old  woman  made  some  preparations 
for  breakfast,  and  as  the  culinary  operations  were  performed  out 
of  doors,  very  probably  the  younger  women  assisted,  but  no  other 
female  entered  the  cabin  but  the  old  lady.  In  an  hour's  time  her 
arrangements  within  commenced. 

Not  a  table,  chair,  or  any  article  of  furniture  could  be  seen. 
These  deficiencies  were  common  on  the  frontiers ;  for  emigrations 
from  the  "  settlements"  were  often  made  on  pack-horses,  and  no 
domestic  convenience-s  could  be  transported,  except  the  most  indis- 
pensable cooking-utensils,  bedding,  and  a  change  or  two  of  clothing. 
But  the  head  of  the  family  must  be  shiftless  indeed,  and  void  of  all 
backwoods'  skill  and  enterprise,  who  could  not  make  a  table  for 
family  use.  There  were  two  fashions  of  this  necessary  article  in 
the  time  to  which  I  refer.  One  was  a  slab,  or  "  puncheon,"  as  then 
called,  split  from  a  large  log,  four  feet  long,  and  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  inches  wide,  and  hewn  down  to  the  thickness  of  a  piank. 
In  this  were  inserted  four  legs,  after  the  fashion  of  a  stool  or  bench, 
at  the  proper  height.  The  other  was  a  rough  frame,  in  which  posts 
were  inserted  for  legs,  and  covered  with  split  clapboards  shaved 
smooth,  and  fastened  with  small  wooden  pins.  We  found  one  of 
these  descriptions  of  tables  in  hundreds  of  log  cabins  where  neat- 
ness, tidiness,  and  industry  prevailed. 

Our  landlady  having  nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  table,  substituted 
a  box.  On  this  she  spread  a  cloth  that  might  have  answered  any 
other  purpose  than  a  table-cloth.  The  table  furniture  was  various. 
For  knives,  two  or  three  hunting-knives  answered.  The  plates  were 
broken  or  melted  pewter  ones,  except  a  single  earthen  one  with  a 
notch  broken  out,  which,  with  a  broken  fork,  was  placed  for  the 
"  stranger"  to  use.  We  could  readily  have  excused  the  kind  old 
lady  for  this  extra  trouble ;  for,  being  dim-sighted,  in  washing,  or 
more  strictly  in  wiping  it,  she  had  left  the  print  of  her  fingers  on 
the  up];>er  surface. 

The  viands  now  only  need  descr'ption  to  complete  this  accurate 


BACKWOODS   LIFE.  103 

picture  of  real  squatter  life.  The  rancid  bacon  when  boiled  could 
have  been  detected  by  a  foetid  atmosphere  across  the  yard,  had 
there  been  one.  The  snap-beans,  as  an  accompaniment,  were  not 
half-boiled.  The  sour  buttermilk  taken  from  the  churn,  where  the 
milk  was  kept  throughout  the  whole  season,  as  it  came  from  the 
cow,  was  "  no  go."  The  article  on  which  the  traveler  made  a  hearty 
breakfast,  past  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  was  the  corn,  boiled  in 
fair  water. 

According  to  universal  custom  among  the  squatter  race,  the  men 
eat  first,  the  women  followed,  and,  if  the  company  were  numerous, 
the  youngsters  and  children  followed  in  regular  succession. 

We  give  this  portraiture  as  a  fair  specimen  of  hundreds  of  fami- 
lies we  found  scattered  over  the  extreme  frontier  settlement  in 
1818-19.  ^ 

Pursuing  our  route,  we  left  appointments  to  preach  on  our  return 
m  Cook's  settlement  in  the  day-time,  and  in  Murphy's  settlement 
Sabbath  night.  And  in  passing  from  Cook's  to  Murphy's  settle- 
ment, Sabbath  afternoon,  who  should  we  meet  but  the  identical 
family  of  squatters  where  we  had  taken  breakfast,  with  an  old  wagon, 
a  pair  of  steers,  two  old  horses  which  the  women  and  children  rode, 
with  their  "  plunder,"  moving  to  the  southwest,  on  the  waters  of 
Big  Black.  The  day  I  left,  some  newly-arrived  immigrant  came 
upon  them,  bought  out  their  "  crap"  and  claim  for  the  old  wagon  and 
yoke  of  steers,  and  they  were  on  their  way  to  Big  Black,  where 
a  few  squatters  and  bear-hunters  had  commenced  a  new  settlement. 

On  the  25th  September,  1818,  I  set  out  on  horseback  the  second 
time  to  find  the  Bethel  Association.  The  route  was  the  same  one 
I  last  traveled  until  I  got  below  Herculaneum,  and  then  gradually 
bearing  to  the  left  and  down  the  direction  of  the  Mississippi,  through 
an  extensive  tract  of  barrens  very  thinly  settled.  It  was  in  passing 
through  these  barrens  that  Joseph  Piggott,  a  Methodist  circuit 
preacher,  in  the  year  1820  came  near  freezing  to  'death,  in  an  ex- 
tremely cold  night,  and  without  food  for  himself  or  his  horse.  He 
gave  the  writer  a  narrative  of  his  sufferings  that  night,  four  years 
a'ter,  at  his  residence  on  the  Macoupin,  111.,  and  yet  we  were  so 
hard-hearted  as  not  to  express  a  word  of  sympathy.  A  few  stuntfd 
and  gnarled  trees,  and  a  sprinkling  of  brushwood,  with  now  and 
then  a  decayed  log,  appeared  above  the  snow.  He  was  nearly  chilled, 
after  wandering  about  a  long  time  in  search  of  a  path ;  and  with 
great  difiBculty,  with  his  tinder-box,  flint  and  steel,  could  he  get  a 
fire.  He  then  scraped  away  what  snow  he  could,  and  with  his  blanket 
lay  down,  broadside  to  the  fire  ;  but  before  he  secured  much  warmth 


104  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK. 

the  otlier  side  •was  nearly  frozen.  Then  he  wonld  turn  over,  but 
finding  no  relief,  would  get  up,  stamp  his  feet,  while  the  wind  seemed 
to  pass  through  him.  When  daylight  appeared,  he  was  too  cold  to 
mount  his  horse,  but  led  him  while  he  attempted  to  find  his  way  on 
to  some  lonely  cabin  which  proved  to  be  not  many  miles  distant. 
There  he  spent  the  day  and  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  the  squatter 
fam.ily.  We  hstened  to  the  distressing  tale  with  amazement !  This 
man  was  born  and  raised  in  Illinois,  and  accustomed  all  his  life  to 
the  frontiers,  and  yet  had  never  learned  one  of  the  indispensable 
lessons  of  a  backwoodsman — how  to  camp  out,  make  a  fire,  and  keep 
warm.  Eating  was  not  so  very  important ;  for  any  man  in  tlie 
vigor  of  life,  in  those  days  in  this  frontier  country,  who  could  not 
go  without  food  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  more  especially  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel,  ought  to  be  sent  back,  where  he  came  from,  to  the 
kind  care  of  his  friends. 

The  writer  had  not  been  in  the  country  one  year  before  he  had 
learned  half  a  dozen  lessons  in  frontier  knowledge  of  great  value  in 
practical  life.  One  branch  was  how  Indians,  hunters,  surveyors,  and 
all  others  who  had  to  travel  over  uninhabited  deserts,  made  their 
camping-place,  and  kept  themselves  comfortable.  The  first  thing 
is  to  select  the  right  place,  in  some  hollow  or  ravine  protected  from 
the  wind,  and  if  possible  behind  some  old  forest  giant  which  the 
storms  of  winter  have  prostrated.  And  then,  reader,  don't  build 
your  fire  against  the  tree,  for  that  is  the  place  for  your  head  and 
shoulders  to  lie,  and  around  which  the  smoke  and  heated  air  may 
curl.  Then  don't  be  so  childish  as  to  lie  on  the  wet,  or  cold  frozen 
earth,  without  a  bed.  Gather  a  quantity  of  grass,  leaves,  and  small 
brush,  and  after  you  have  cleared  away  the  snow,  and  provided 
for  protection  from  the  wet  or  cold  earth,  you  may  sleep  comfort- 
ably. If  you  have  a  piece  of  jerked  venison,  and  a  bit  of  pone  with 
a  cup  of  water,  you  may  make  out  a  splendid  supper,  provided  you 
think  so ;  "  for  as  a  man  thinketh,  so  is  he."  And  if  you  have  a 
traveling  companion,  3^ou  may  have  a  social  time  of  it.  So  now 
offer  your  prayers  like  a  Christian,  ask  the  Lord  to  protect  you, 
wrap  around  you  your  blankets  with  your  saddles  for  pillows,  and 
lie  down  to  sleep  under  the  care  of  a  watchful  Providence.  If  it 
rains,  a  very  little  labor,  with  barks  or  even  brush,  with  the  tops 
sloping  downward,  will  be  no  mean  shelter.  Keep  your  feet  straight 
to  the  fire,  but  not  near  enough  to  burn  your  moccasins  or  boots, 
and  your  legs  and  whole  body  will  be  warm.  The  aphorism  of  the 
Italian  physician,  which  he  left  in  a  sealed  letter  as  a  guide  to  all 
his  former  patients,  when  he  was  dead,  contains  exc*^llent  advice  to 


STE.  OEXEVIEYE,  105 

all  frontier  people  :  '^Keep  your  feet  ivarm,  your  hack  straight,  and 
your  head  cool,  and  bid  defiance  to  the  doctors.'' 

I  got  about  half-way  through  the  tract  of  barrens  between  Her 
culaneum  and  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  stopped  at  a  small  cabin,  where 
I  got  such  refreshment  for  "man  and  beast,"  and  such  lodging  as 
its  inmates  could  furnish.  Before  noon  the  next  day  I  was  passing 
through  Ste.  Genevieve. 

As  this  was  the  first  visit  I  made  to  this  ancient  town,  I  may  as 
well  give  a  brief  sketch  of  its  early  history. 

Ste.  Genevieve  is  the  oldest  French  village  in  Missouri.  When 
Lalede  and  the  Chouteans  came  from  New  Orleans  to  establish  a 
trading-post  at  St.  Louis,  in  1763,  they  stopped  at  Ste.  Genevieve, 
which  contained  about  twelve  or  fifteen  families,  in  as  many  small 
cabins,  but  finding  no  warehouse  or  other  building  in  which  they 
could  store  their  goods,  they  went  on  to  Fort  Chartres  and  wintered. 
We  date  the  commencement  of  Ste.  Genevieve  as  a  village  from  the 
period  of  the  erection  of  Fort  Chartres,  the  second,  about  1756. 
Yery  probably  there  were  previous  to  this,  as  there  were  in  the 
lead-mining  districts,  what  are  called  in  patois-French,  cabanes,  a 
term  expressing  the  idea  of  "  shanties,"  a  cluster  of  shelters  for 
temporary  purposes.  Such  cabanes  were  in  the  lead-mining  district 
when  Philip  Francis  Eenault  had  his  exploring  parties  out  at  various 
points  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  And,  by  the  way,  I 
find  no  evidence  that  lead-mining  was  followed  in  the  mining-coun- 
try after  Renault,  disappointed,  and  a  "broken  merchant,"  quit  the 
business  about  1740,  until  the  possession  of  Illinois  by  the  British 
about  twenty-five  years  thereafter.  Many  of  the  French  inhabitants 
who  held  slaves  left  the  Illinois  country ;  some  went  to  the  newly- 
established  town  of  St.  Louis;  others  to  Lower  Louisiana.  Many 
families  also  Avent  to  the  lead  mines  in  Missouri,  while  others  stopped 
at  Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Bourbon  with  their  servants.  This  gave 
an  impulse  to  the  former  town,  which  before  1770  became  the  depot 
and  shipping-port  for  the  lead  business.  The  French  at  St.  Louis, 
as  a  nom-de-nique,  called  Ste.  Genevieve  Ilisere,  as  they  did  Caron- 
delet  Vide  Poche :  and  in  their  turn  received  the  nick-name  of 
Pain  Court,  to  indicate  they  were  short  of  bread. 

The  old  town  of  which  I  am  wTiting  was  near  the  Missifjsippi, 
and  about  one  mile  below  the  ferry  and  landing.  From  this  point, 
where  the  rock  forms  a  landing,  for  seven  miles  down  the  river,  was 
an  extensive  tract  of  alluvial  bottom  about  three  miles  in  width. 
On  this  rich  alluvion  the  French  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Bour- 
bon made  one  of  the  largest  "common  fields"  to  be  found  along  the 


lOG  MEMOIR   or    JOHN    M.,  PECK. 

Upper  TMississippi.  It  contained  within  the  common  inclosure  from 
three  thousand  to  four  thousand  acres.  The  repeated  inundations 
of  high  water,  and  especially  the  great  flood  of  1784,  drove  the  in- 
habitants to  the  high  ground  in  the  rear,  where  they  built  the  old 
residences  of  the  new  town,  or  the  existing  Ste.  Genevieve.  Each 
successive  flood  tore  away  the  rich  bottom  along  the  river,  until 
that  of  1844  about  "used  up"  the  great  common  field  of  the  village. 
No  passenger  in  passing  up  or  down  the  great  expansive  bend  of 
the  river  woiild  hardly  realize  that  the  largest  steamers  now  float 
in  a  channel  that  is  more  than  two  miles  from  the  Mississippi  river, 
as  it  ran  in  1780. 

Protestant  Christianity  has  had  but  feeble   influence  in  this 
ancient  French  village. 

Having  no  time  to  tarry,  we  found  our  way  by  the  Saline  works 
(where  General  Henry  S.  Dodge  was  manufacturing  salt  in  the  bar- 
rens of  Perry  county,  then  known  far  and  near  as  the  name  of  this 
tract  of  country)  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Duvol,  where  w^e  arrived  Sat- 
urday evening  after  sunset.  One  day  of  the  Association  was  over, 
and  though  an  entire  stranger,  and  excessively  fatigued  from  our 
long  ride,  no  excuse  would  be  taken ;  we  must  preach  :  and  preach 
we  did,  a  missionary  discourse,  off-hand,  from  Isaiah  xlix.  20.  Here 
were  two  preachers  from  the  Boone's  Lick  country,  William  Thorp, 
and  Edward  Turner,  who  were  messengers  of  correspondence  from 
the  Mount  Pleasant  Association,  then  recently  formed.  The^-^  were 
among  the  earliest  settlers  in  that  far-out-of-the-way  region.  Thorp 
(we  think)  came  there  from  Kentucky  in  1810,  and  Turner  soon 
after.  Of  course,  they  knew  not  a  single  fact  about  missions,  nor 
any  thing  correctly  of  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on 
earth,  or  of  its  destiny.  A  set  of  crude  and  erroneous  notions  had 
been  stereotyped  in  their  minds,  in  Kentucky,  about  gospel  doctrine 
and  moral  obligation,  and  they  were  fixedly  resolved  to  learn  noth- 
ing else.  Having  come  from  a  new  association  to  solicit  correspond- 
ence, and  perceiving  the  writer  was  received  with  great  promptitude 
as  a  visitor,  and  invited  to  preach  on  the  spot  before  the  association, 
which  held  a-  night-session,  they  were  not  openly  hostile.  They 
only  whispered  about  among  a  few  of  the  brethren,  and  sliook  their 
heads  doubtingly.  For  several  successive  years  w^e  met  those  breth- 
ren at  associations,  when  they  took  a  bolder  and  more  decided 
stand  against  all  organized  efforts  to  publish  the  glad  tidings  to  a 
sin-ruined  world.  They  maintained  that  missions,  Sunday-schools, 
Bible  societies,  and  such-like  facilities,  were  all  men's  contrivances, 
to  take  God's  work  out  of  his  own  hands.     Their  views  of  the  plau 


BETHEJ;,   ASSOCIATION — MISSIONS.  107 

of  salvation  through  Christ  were  exceeding  limited  and  imperfect, 
and  their  success  was  quite  as  limited  as  their  Biblical  knowledge 
was  deficient. 

The  Bethel  Association  this  year  consisted  of  five  churches  and 
eigtit  ordained  ministers.  The  churches  were  Bethel,  Tywappity, 
Providence,  Barren,  St.  Francois,  Dry  creek  and  Salem.  The  last 
had  been  constituted  on  Fourche-a-Tliomas,  in  Arkansas,  and  was 
the  first  church  ever  gathered  in  that  region.  It  had  two  minis- 
ters (Benjamin  Clark  and  Jesse  James)  and  twelve  members.  Mr. 
James  disappeared  from  the  minutes  in  after  years,  as  we  suppose 
by  death,  but  Mr.  Clark  lived  and  labored  in  that  desolate  region 
for  many  years  with  great  self-denial,  zeal,  and  success.  In  the 
early  period  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  we  obtained  for  him, 
as  we  did  for  many  other  laborioiis  frontier  preachers,  an  annual 
perquisite  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  mission  funds  were  never 
better  laid  out.  The  last  we  heard  of  this  excellent  brother  was 
a  vague  rumor  that  he  had  gone  to  Texas.  , 

The  Bethel  Association  had  held  a  correspondence  with  the  Little 
River  Association  in  Kentucky.  That  year  the  messenger  was 
Josiah  Home,  who  preached  an  excellent  sermon  on  the  Sabbath. 
.On  the  preceding  session  the  association  had  taken  up  the  subject 
of  Foreign  Missions,  having  received  an  annual  report  of  the  Board. 
They  now  had  a  regularly-appointed  missionary  under  the  Board, 
as  their  visitor,  and  seemed  disposed  to  use  him  freely.  We  copy 
from  the  minutes : 

"The  business  relating  to  missions,  postponed  last  year,  was 
taken  under  consideration,  and  Brother  Peck  called  on  for  informa- 
tion on  the  subject.  Several  interesting  communications  were  read, 
a  circular  from  the  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  presented, 
and  the  great  efforts  of  the  Christian  world  to  promote  the  cause 
of  Christ  stated,  together  with  the  views,  proceedings,  object,  and 
Buccess  of  the  Baptist  denomination  generally  in  this  great  and 
good  work ; 

"  Therefore,  resolved,  That  Elder  Thomas  P.  Green  (near  Jacks :  n 
Cape  Girardeau  county)  be  our  Corresponding  Secretary,  to  open  a 
correspondence  with  the  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  trans- 
mit to  their  secretary  a  copy  of  our  minutes,  and  receive  communi- 
cations from  them." 

The  missionaries  at  St.  Louis,  after  conferring  with  their  friends, 
had  concocted  the  plan  of  a  society,  embracing  such  of  the  denomi 
nation  in  Illinois  and  Missouri  as  chose  to  unite  in  it,  the  outline 


]08  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

of  a  constitution  was  read,  and  the  project  explained.     Upon  this 
the  following  entry  was  made  in  the  minutes  : 

'■  Heard  a  plan,  drawn  up  by  Brother  Peck,  to  promote  the  gospel 
and  common-schools,  both  amongst  the  settlers  and  the  Indians  in 
this  Cspuntry,  which  plan,  we  think,  would  be  highl^r  useful,  and 
which  we  earnestly  desire  to  see  carried  into  effect ; 

"  Therefore,  resolved,  That  we  view  with  pleasure  the  exertions 
of  our  brethren  J.  M.  Peck  and  J.  E.  Welch,  united  in  the  Western 
Mission,  to  spread  the  gospel  and  promote  common-schools  both 
amongst  the  whites  and  Indians,  and  that  we  recommend  the  above 
plan  for  the  consideration  of  the  churches  and  a  liberal  public.  As 
Brother  Peck  engages  to  communicate  an  outline  of  the  plan,  it  is 
hoped  each  church  will  consider  it,  and  instruct  their  delegates 
against  the  next  association." 

The  plan  and  constitution  of  this  society  was  brought  before  the 
Illinois  Association,  and  approved  by  that  body  on  the  10th  of  Oc- 
tober and  by  the  Missouri  Association  on  the  24th  of  the  same 
month,  where  its  organization  was  completed. 

As  this  was  the  first  society  ever  organized  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi for  philanthropic  and  missionary  purposes,  some  more  details 
of  the  plan  and  proposed  method  of  operations  are  deemed  ex- 
pedient. 

Name. — "  The  Umted  Societ^^  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel." 
Object. — To  aid  the  "Western  Mission"  in  spreading  the  gospel, 
and  promoting  common-schools  in  the  western  parts  of  America, 
both  amongst  the  whites  and  Indians. 

Teems  of  Membership. — Persons  of  good  moral  character  by  pay- 
ing  five  dollars  annually.  Each  [Baptist]  association,  contributing 
annually,  could  send  two  messengers.  Each  branch  or  mite  society, 
church,  or  other  religious  society,  contributing  ten  dollars  annually, 
to  send  one  delegate. 

Measures  to  be  adopted. — The  society,  at  its  annual  meeting,  to 
consult  on  the  best  measures  to  promote  the  gospel  and  common- 
schools  ;  devise  measures  to  assist  ministers  in  obtaining  an  educa- 
tion, and  to  qualify  school-teachers ;  consider  the  moral  and  re- 
hgious  welfare  of  the  Indians,  and  devise  means  for  their  reform  ; 
and  use  every  means  in  their  power  to  send  forth  missionaries  on 
the  frontiers  and  destitute  settlements. 

QUAIJFICATIOXS  OF  MISSIONARIES  AND  ScHOOL-TEACHERS. — The  first 

must  be  in  full  standing  in  the  Baptist  churches,  and  give  satisfac- 
tory evidence  of  genuine  piety,  good  talents,  and  fervent  zeal  in  the 
Eedeemer's  cause.    No  person  of  immoral  habits,  or  who,  in  tho 


ANTI-MISSION    BAPTISTS.  109 

judgment  of  the  Board,  was  not  qualified,  could  be  employed  as  a 
school-teacher. 

It  was  not  expected  the  society  would  pay  teachers  among  the 
white  settlers,  but  to  aid  in  introducing  good  ones,  and  thus  encour- 
age the  people  in  an  entire  reformation  in  the  schools  throughout  the 
country.  Thus  the  society,  or  rather  its  secretary,  who  also  made 
extensive  excursions  as  a  general  agent,  by  an  extensive  correspond- 
ence, found  out  where  teachers  were  wanted  and  where  they  could 
be  had.  It  is  not  extravagant  to  say  that  in  three  years,  by  so 
simple  and  cheap  an  agency,  moue  than  fifty  good  schools  were  es- 
tablished in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  where  common  nuisances,  with 
drunken,  ihiterate  Irish  Catholics  at  the  head,  had  before  existed. 

Funds. — The  funds  of  the  society  were  included  in  three  depart- 
ments :  the  Education  fund,  the  Indian  fund,  and  the  Mission  fund. 

Having  failed  in  establishing  an  Indian  school  amongst  a  band  of 
natives  then  located  near  the  Pilot  Knob,  in  Madison  county.  Mo.,  no 
further  eff'ort  was  made  for  that  object.  The  education-object  made 
no  demand  for  funds.  Several  missionaries  in  Missouri  and  Illinois 
were  employed  as  itinerants,  at  the  rate  of  expense  of  hired  men, 
that  is  from  sixteen  to  twenty  dollars  per  month,  according  to 
locality.  The  labors  of  most  were  successful  and  performed  with 
fidelity.  Some  received  their  compensation  from  voluntary  con- 
tributions. The  writer  being  under  patronage  of  the  Baptist  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  made  frequent  collections  without  charge  to 
the  society ;  for  which,  a  few  years  after,  when  a  class  of  Baptists 
turned  against  their  brethren,  declared  non-intercourse  with  all  in 
favor  of  missions,  Sunda^'^-schools,  etc.,  the  slang  of  "  money-begging 
missionary,"  "the  gospel  going  on  silver  wheels,"  and  "Judas  hav- 
ing the  bag,"  was  reiterated  from  that  class.  One  well-meaning, 
but  short-sighted  old  preacher  received  seventeen  dollars  and 
twenty-five  cents,  for  a  month's  itinerant  service  and  traveling 
expenses.  Hearing  that  he  used  this  stereotyped  slang,  where  he 
ought  to  have  preached  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  sent  him  word  by  a  common  friend,  ac- 
knowledging our  position  analogous  to  that  of  Judas,  who  had  been 
appointed  treasurer  of  the  company  by  the  Divine  Master.   But  who 

got  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  ?     Elder got  seventeen  dollars 

and  twenty-five  cents,  for  which  we  hold  his  receipt.  It  troubled 
the  old  man  to  no  small  extent  when  we  turned  the  "  silver  wheels" 
U])on  him. 

There  was  an  honest,  but  mistaken  basis  on  which  the  objections 
against  missions  were  founded.  These  preachers  were  quite  de- 
10 


no  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

ficient  in  correct  and  Scriptural  views  of  chviich  government.  Its 
extreme  simplicity,  aiid  the  large  liberty  it  gave  to  its  members  in 
their  selection  of  objects,  and  divers  modes  of  benefactions  they 
did  not  comprehend.  Associations  v^ere  called  "  advisory  comicils," 
but  the  advice  had  the  effect  of  law.  Hence,  by  a  confused  series 
of  far-drawn  inferences,  they  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  all  other 
societies  except  churches  and  associations,  not  being  specially 
thorized  in  the  Scriptures,  must  be  forbidden. 

Then  in  many  minds  crude  antinomian  notions  were  inter- 
mingled with  scattered  and  detached  fragments  of  gospel  truth. 
They  had  no  clear  and  correct  notions  of  the  connection  of  Divine 
purposes  and  means  to  accomplish  them.  Because  God  worked  in 
us  to  will  and  to  do  his  own  pleasure,  they  had  no  conception  of 
human  duty  and  responsibility.  There  was  a  mulish  obstinacy 
about  some  of  these  men,  as  there  is  about  the  same  class  now. 
They  would  not  examine  the  subject  candidly  and  prayerfully ; 
they  shut  their  ow^n  eyes  against  the  hght,  and  as  far  as  in  their 
pov,'er  kept  the  members  of  their  churches  in  darkness.  They  made 
the  singular  blunder  in  denying  the  use  of  all  means  and  instru- 
mentalities in  the  conversion  of  sinners  and  sending  the  gospe) 
to  the  destitute,  wdiile  they  W' ere  active  and  zealous  in  using  means 
and  trying  to  be  instrumental  in  opposing  gospel  measures.  A  third 
cause  of  this  anti-mission  spirit  and  practice  among  a  class  of  preach- 
ers, originated  in  sheer  selfishness. 

They  knew  their  own  deficiencies  when  contrasted  with  others, 
but  instead  of  rejoicing  tlijit  the  Lord  had  provided  better  gifts  to 
promote  his  cause,  they  felt  the  irritabihty  of  wounded  pride,  com- 
mon to  narrow  and  w^eak  minds.  They  got  no  compensation  for 
their  preaching ;  but  the  smallest  degree  of  power  and  influence 
over  others  is  more  precious  than  gold  to  such  men.  As  an  illus- 
tration of  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  course  of  opposition  to 
missions,  I  will  narrate  an  incident  that  occurred  in  Sangamon 
county,  111.,  some  five  or  six  years  after  the  date  at  the  head  of  this 
article. 

A  little  association  had  been  formed ;  and  after  a  hard  struggle, 
and  by  a  bare  majority,  an  article  was  adopted  of  this  purport : 

"  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  association  to  debar  from  a  seat 
any  Baptist  who  is  a  member  of  a  missionary  society." 

By  a  previous  act  they  had  made  their  articles  of  faith,  and  pro- 
vided that  they  could  not  be  altered  except  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
and  then  appended  this  httle  anti-mission  and  unscriptural  rule  b^ 
a  majority  of  one  to  their  articles  of  faith.     At  that  time,  and  for 


ANTI-MISSION    BAPTISTS.  Ill 

ever  after,  there  was  a  large  majority  of  mejpbers  in  the  churches 
opposed  to  the  rule,  but  they  could  not  rid  the  association  of  it,  as 
long  as  one  selfish,  crotchety  member  remained.  The  church  where 
the  association  was  held  were  to  a  man  opposed  to  this  rule ;  and 
fearing  it  might  prevent  Baptist  ministers  from  visiting  them,  a 
resolution  was  introduced  to  the  purport  that  they  would  invite 
any  orderly  Baptist  minister  to  preach  for  them,  although  he  might 
be  a  missionary.  To  give  full  opportunity  to  investigate  the  sub- 
ject, the  question  was  postponed  one  month.  Fearing  such  an  in- 
vestigation might  expose  the  designs  of  the  anti-mission  party, 
four  preachers  rode  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles  to  attend  the  church- 
meeting.  It  was  in  the  "month  of  February  ;  the  creeks  werejiigh ; 
and  two  of  these  zealous  visitors  swam  Sugar  creek  on  their  horses, 
at  the  risk  of  their  lives.  One  of  these  men  was  cjuite  a  simple- 
hearted,  weak  brother,  whose  small  mind  was  led  by  the  others. 
But  he  loved  to  hear  himself  talk,  while  in  a  confused  manner  he 
uttered  words  that  lacked  ideas.  He  was  interrupted  by  a  motion, 
which,  was  put  by  the  moderator  and  decided  in  the  affirmative, 
of  this  purport : 

"  That  Brother  J n  be  requested  to  state  explicitly  his  ob- 

jections  against  missionaries." 

His  repl^T-  was  honestly  made,  as  follows  : 

"  We  don't  care  any  thing  about  them  missionaries  that's  gone 
amongst  them  heathens  'way  ofF^^oncler.  But  what  do  the^  «.ume 
among  us  for  ?    We  don't  want  them  here  in  Illinois." 

The  moderator  replied  :  "We  live  in  a  free  country,  and  Baptist 
churches  love  liberty.  We  need  not  give  them  money  unless  we 
choose,  and  we  are  not  obliged  to  hear  them  preach  if  we  do  not 

like  them.     Come,  Brother  J n,  let  the  church  know  your  real 

objections." 

"Well,  if  you  must  know.  Brother  Moderator,  3"ou  know  the  big 
trees  in  the  woods  overshadow  the  little  ones ;  and  these  mission- 
aries will  be  all  great,  learned  men,  and  the  people  will  all  go  to  hear 
them  preach,  and  we  shall  all  be  put  down.    That's  the  objection." 

Indian  Councils. 
On  my  return  from  the  Bethel  Association,  I  found  the  Eev.  John 
Ficklin,  from  Kentucky,  in  town.  He  was  on  an  agency  from  the 
Kentucky  Mission  Society  to  certain  bands  of  Indians  in  Missouri, 
to  obtain  some  of  their  children  to  commence  an  Indian  school  in 
that  State.  This  was  the  embryo  of  the  Indian  school,  subse- 
quently sustained  by  the  national  government,  on  the  farm  anc« 


112  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

under  the  supervision  of  the  late  Hon.  R.  M.  Johnson,  at  the  Blue 
Spring-s,  Scott  county.  Mr.  Ficklin  was  a-  self-sacrificing,  zealous 
Baptist  preacher,  and  for  a  long  series  of  years  was  a  member  of 
Great  Crossings  church,  and  connected  with  the  Elkhorn  Associa- 
tion. He  (with  Mr.  Short,  his  traveling  companion)  had  made  an 
excursion  to  several  places  in  the  territory,  where  bands  of  Indians 
resided,  one  of  which  was  on  the  Fourche-a-Courtois  in  Washington 
county,  another  was  at  Indiantown  between  the  Bourbeuse  and  Mer- 
rimac  rivers.  Here  was  a  band  of  Shawanese  and  Delawares,  called 
Rogers'  band,  from  their  chief  or  head  man.  Mr.  Rogers  was  origi- 
nally a  white  man,  taken  prisoner  in  boyhood,  and  so  trained.in  Indian 
habits  and  tactics,  that  in  mind,  temper,  disposition,  and  inclina- 
tions, he  was  completely  an  Indian.  He  took  for  a  wife  a  squaw, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  a  chief,  and  through  his  influence  and  his 
own  superior  talents  he  held  the  office  of  commander  in  that  band. 
During  the  series  of  wars  between  the  Indians  and  white  people, 
in  their  early  migrations  to  Kentucky,  Rogers  commanded  a  ma- 
rauding party  on  the  Ohio  river,  who  displayed  their  prowess  in 
plundering  boats,  and  murdering  the  owners  when  they  miet  with 
resistance.  The  victory  of  General  Wayne,  in  1794,  and  the  treaty 
of  Greenville  that  followed,  put  an  end  to  these  depredations.  Pre- 
viously to  this  period,  however,  Captain  Rogers  had  accumulated 
wealth  enough  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  himself  and  band,  and  ap- 
prehensive they  might  be  trailed  out  by  some  of  the  war-parties 
of  the  whites,  prudently  migrated  across  the  "  Great  River,"  and 
located  themselves  at  Village-a-Robert,  afterward  called  Owen's 
Station,  and  now  Bridgton,  in  St.  Louis  county. 

Rogers  had  not  lost  all  predilections  for  the  lower  grade  of  civiU 
zation.  He  had  two  sons,  James  and  Lewis,  who  grew  up  to  man- 
hood, and  two  or  three  daughters.  One  daughter  married  Cohun, 
a  Delaware  brave,  and  a  fine,  noble  specimen  of  humanity.  He 
was  a  man  of  strong  sense,  industrious,  generous,  and  a  firm  friend 
to  his  white  neighbors. 

When,  and  under  what  circumstances,  Captain  Rogers  died,  I  never 
learned.  His  successor  in  office  was  Captain  Fish,  who  also  -^as  one 
of  our  race,  but  taken  a  prisoner  when  a  small  boy,  and  acquired 
the  Indian  character  so  perfectly,  that  a  stranger  would  not  have 
suspected  his  w^hite  blood.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Captain 
Rogers,  and  perhaps  this  connection  tended  to  place  him  in  office, 
which  was  for  life. 

This  band  of  Indians  cultivated  little  farms.  Captain  Rogers 
took  an  act've  part  in  getting  up  a  school  in  the  village,  in  which 


INDIAN   COUNCILS.  113 

the  American  settlers  united,  and  the  white  and  Indian  hoys  were 
at  their  books  ii?  school  hours,  and  engaged  with  the  bow  and  arrow 
and  other  Indian  pastimes,  during  intermission.  Amongst  these 
scholars  was  the  late  Eev.  Lewis  WilUams,  w^ho  obtained  his  educa- 
tion in  boyhood  in  this  half-Indian  seminary. 

About  the  time,  or  a  httle  before  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States,  Kogers  and  his  band  removed  to  the  Big  Spring  at 
the  head  of  the  main  Merrimac.  Here  the  water  suddenly  bursts 
from  the  earth  into  a  large  basin  from  which  flows  a  river  more 
than  fifty  yards  in  width,  and  from  two  to  three  feet  deep.  It 
proved  very  sickly  to  the  new-comers,  and  several  died.  I  think 
probably  Captain  Rogers  was  of  the  number.  Supposing  they  had 
intruded  upon  the  dominion  of  a  Matchee  Monito,  or  Evil  Spirit, 
they  broke  up  their  lodges,  came  down  the  country,  and  built  their 
cabins  on  the  borders  of  Indian  prairie  in  Franklin  county.  This 
spot  is  a  few  miles  south  of  Union. 

Captain  Fish,  the  Eogers,  and  others,  met  Mr.  Ficklin  in  St.  Louis, 
where,  on  the  first  day  of  October,  we  held  a  talk  about  sending 
their  children  to  Kentucky.  Lewis  Rogers,  who  could  read  and 
write  as  well  as  most  of  the  frontier  settlers,  offered  to  go,  provided 
he  could  be  permitted  to  take  his  wife  and  all  his  family  with  him. 
To  this  proposal  ]\Ir.  Ficklin  consented.  These  Indians  were  thrifty 
farmers,  and  brought  the  best  cattle  to  St. Louis  market  the  butchers 
had  received.  Next  year,  in  company  with  Elder  Lewis  William? 
and  Isaiah  Todd,  I  visited  these  Indians  at  their  hunting-camps, 
some  eight  or  ten  miles  above  their  town.  "We  were  treated  with 
great  hospitality.  They  heard  favorable  accounts  from  Lewis  Rogers 
at  the  school  in  Kentucky,  and  consented  to  send  on  more  of  their 
sons. 

About  the  same  time  two  large  parties  of  Indians  came  to 
settle  difficulties  and  make  peace.  These  were  on  the  one  side 
Cherokees,  with  a  few  Delawares  and  Shawanoes ;  and  on  the 
other  side,  Osages,  or, more  correctly,  Wossoshes,  as  they  pronoimce 
their  name.  These  two  bodies  had  been  at  war  for  more  than  two 
years,  and  by  the  advice  of  their  Great  Father,  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  had  met  in  presence  of  their  good  father  (Gov- 
ernor Clark),  who  superintended  the  affairs  of  the  Indians  over  a 
vast  district  of  country.  The  ostensible  cause  of  this  war  may 
serve  to  show  that  mistakes  are  made  by  commissioners,  that 
eventually  produce  ruptures  between  Indian  tribes.  Indian  bound- 
aries and  Indian  titles  to  particular  tracts  of  country,  among  thom- 
eelves,  unless  established  by  Ihe  government  that  acts  as  their 


Hi  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

common  guardian,  are  vague  things.  Floods  of  sympathy  have 
been  poured  out  by  those  who  know  nothing  truthfully  about  Indian 
titles,  boundary  lines,  and  Indian  rights  ;  or  their  character,  history, 
and  habits.  "  Attachment  to  the  graves  of  their  fathers"  is  all 
poetry.  From  the  earhest  period  that  we  can  obtain  any  knowledge 
of  this  race,  they  have  been  migratory. 

In  1808,  through  the  late  Pierre  Choteau  as  United  States  Com- 
missioner, at  Fort  Clark,  on  the  Missouri,  a  treaty  with  the  Osages 
was  negotiated,  in  wiiich  a  line  due  south  to  the  Arkansas  was  to 
become  the  eastern  boundary,  and  down  the  Arkansas  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. These  Osages  some  ^-ears  after  set  up  a  claim  to  hunt  on 
the  lands  south  of  the  Arkansas.  In  1808-9,  the  President  entered 
into  an  arrangement  with  the  Cherokees,  for  a  portion  of  the  nation 
who  desired  to  remove  westward,  to  exchange  their  lands  east 
of  the  Mississippi  for  lands  on  the  Arkansas  river.  They  claimed 
the  right  of  hunting  indefinitely  westward.  The  Osages,  not  liking 
these  intruders,  as  they  regarded  them,  broke  up  their  hunting- 
lodges,  and  plundered  them  of  their  peltry.  One  depredation  pro- 
■foked  another,  until  they  came  in  collision ;  murders  were  com- 
mitted ;  and  finally  the  Cherokees  made  a  formal  declaration  of 
war.  They  took  up  the  hne  of  march  in  the  spring  of  1817,  with 
two  field-pieces,  mounted  and  drawn  by  horses,  and  the  men  armed 
with  rifles.  The  Cherokees  were  half-civilized,  and  understood  and 
kept  up  military  discipline ;  and  adopted  into  their  nation  were  not 
a  few  "  white  skins,"  and  the  Shawanoes  and  Delawares.  They 
made  a  rapid  march  into  the  Osage  country,  surprised  them  in 
their  villages,  made  them  run,  killed  a  dozen  or  so,  and  took  as 
many  prisoners,  chiefly  w^omen  and  children,  wdiom  at  the  time  we 
are  writing  about  they  held  as  hostages. 

The  Great  Chief  of  the  Cherokees,  on  the  Arkansas,  was  a  most 
venerable  man  named  Tolrentuske^.  He  was  one  hundred  years 
of  age,  and  entirely  blind.  It  was  not  his  business  at  that  advanced 
period  of  life,  with  his  locks  white  as  the  mountain  snow,  to  go  out 
to  war.  This  duty,  his  braves,  commanded  by  an  experienced  war- 
rior, had  performed  under  his  authority.  But  his  presence  was 
indispensable  to  the  ratification  of  peace.  He  had  traveled  on 
horseback  from  the  Indian  country  on  the  Arkansas  on  a  mission 
of  peace,  accompanied  by  a  beloved  daughter,  who  appeared  about 
forty  years  of  age.  She  was  a 'pattern  of  fihal  affection;  for  she 
lad  her  venerable  sire  to  and  from  the  council-room,  and  waited  on 
him  with  the  greatest  tenderness. 

The  council  between  the  tribes  was  held  in  the  Indian  office,  in 


TOLRENTUSKEE — INDIAN   COUNCILS.  115 

ihe  presence  and  under  the  presiding  influence  of  the  late  Governor 
Clark.  Few  men  in  the  nation  had  so  extensive  an  influence  over 
the  Indians,  and  so  much  tact  inconciliatmgas  this  Superintendent 
of  Indian  affairs.  The  parties  were  seated  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
room ;  the  Governor,  his  aids,  secretaries,  and  interpreters,  around 
a  table  in  the  center ;  and  the  spectators,  who  were  invited  guests, 
on  elevated  seats  back.  The  Cherokees  were  first  called  on  to  ex- 
hibit their  complaints  against  the  Osages,  and  the  latter  to  respond. 
The  Osages  had  several  ^a?^^?^gf -braves,  or  those  who  claimed  the 
gift  of  Indian  oratory.  The  whole  speaking  on  the  part  of  the  Chero- 
kees, according  to  their  usage,  devolved  on  old  Tolrentuskee ;  and  a 
more  dignified,  grave,  sententious  speaker  we  never  heard.  The 
intonations  of  his  voice,  and  his  occasional  gesticulations,  were 
pecuUarly  impressive.  He  told  of  an  interview  between  the  chiefs 
of  the  Cherokee  nation  with  his  Great  Father  "Washington  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  1794.  Though  he  was  not  then  a  great  chief,  he  opened 
his  ears  to  the  lessons  of  the  Great  Father,  who  told  the  Cherokees 
war  was  not  good ;  it  made  people  unhappy,  and  the  Great  Spirit 
became  angry  with  his  children.  The  Great  Father  told  them  they 
must  leave  off  war  and  plunder,  cultivate  the  soil,  raise  corn  and 
cotton,  make  good  houses,  and  learn  to  talk  from  the  book.  His 
ears  were  opened  wide,  and  every  word  of  the  Great  Father  sank 
into  his  heart.  The  same  lessons  had  been  taught  them  by  the 
successive  Great  Fathers,  and  the  Cherokees  were  fast  learning  the 
ways  of  the  White-skins.  They  built  houses  like  their  white  neigh- 
bors ;  they  touched  their  mother  earth,  and  she  gave  them  corn, 
and  cotton,  and  other  good  things.  These  clothes  I  wear,  my 
daughter  who  sits  there  and  leads  me  in  the  dark,  made  for  me.  She 
grew  the  cotlon  in  the  field,  and  made  the  cloth.  We  do  not  desire 
to  go  on  the  war-path :  it  is  not  good.  When  we  came  across  the 
Big  river,  our  Great  Father  told  us  to  live  in  peace  with  the  Osages, 
and  Kanzaus,  and  Quppaws'  and  all  the  other  Red-skins.  We  tried 
to  do  so,  but  the  Osages  came  over  the  Arkansas  to  our  hunting 
grounds.  They  destroyed  our  lodges,  stole  our  meat  and  skins, 
and  killed  and  scalped  some  of  our  men.  We  sent  them  word  to 
keep  on  their  own  side  of  the  Arkansas,  and  not  molest  us ;  but 
they  grew  worse.  Bad  birds  flew  through  the  air  and  told  then> 
lies ;  and  they  stole  our  horses  and  other  property,  and  killed  more 
of  our  people. 

The  venerable  chief  spoke  an  hour  in  rehearsing  the  depredations 
of  the  Osages,  and  proving  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  Cherokees 
was  a  necessity.     His  intellect  was  remarkably  clear,  and  the  tones 


116  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.    PECK. 

of  his  voice  melodious.  The  responses  from  the  Osages  were  vari- 
ous, and  a  little  contradictory.  They  claimed  the  country  south 
of  the  j^  rkansas  as  their  ancient  hunting-ground,  without  producing 
any  proofs  from  history  or  tradition.  They  regarded  the  Cherokees 
as  intruders,  because  they  came  across  the  Big  river.  Tolrentuskee 
had  alluded  to  the  inferiority  of  the  Osages  in  the  war,  and  used 
an  expression  that  stung  to  the  quick  one  of  the  Osage  braves,  who 
proved  himself  to  be  not  only  a  braggart,  but  a  dastardly  coward. 
He  was  a  large,  robust  man,  six  feet  in  height,  painted  in  true  Indian 
style,  with  his  head  shaved  close,  only  the  scalp-lock  being  left,  and 
this  done  up  with  long  red  feathers.  Springing  to  his  feet,  and 
throwing  off  his  blanket  from  his  shoulders,  with  only  his  shroud 
around  his  waist,  his  eyes  flashing  resentment,  addressing  Governor 
Clark,  as  all  the  speakers  had  to  do,  he  exclaimed : 

"My  father,  I'm  a  man — an  Osage  brave;  my  heart  is  big;  I 
never  quail  before  Ked-skins  ;  I  fear  no  Red-skin ;  I  only  bow  in  the 
presence  of  White-skins,  my  father" — at  the  same  time  making  a 
somewhat  a  vvkward,  but  low  obeisance. 

Captain  Cohun  was  sitting  in  front  of  the  writer :  and  I  saw  by 
the  curl  of  the  lip,  he  was  observing  this  Osage,  and  inquired : 
"  Do  you  know  him?"  *'Yes;  that's  the  very  fellow  who  pushed 
his  wife  off  his  horse  when  we  drove  them  from  the  village,  that 
he  might  run  away.   We  have  got  his  squaw  among  our  prisoners." 

The  Governor  adjourned  the  council  till  the  next  day,  without 
any  settlement,  advising  each  party  to  yield  something.  Next 
morning  the  Osages  argued  resolutely  their  right  to  the  hunting- 
grounds  north  of  the  Arkansas,  thus  tacitly  relinquishing  all  claims 
to  the  disputed  country.  Peace  was  made,  and  the  treaty  signed 
by  each  party,  and  witnessed  by  the  spectators — the  Cherokeea 
promising  to  give  up  the  prisoners,  whom  they  held  as  hostages. 


MISSIONARY   TOUR.  lit 

CHAPTER    IX. 

A  Missionarj  Toui  in  Soutlieru  Missouri. 

On  the  3d  day  of  November  I  started  from  St.  Louis,  on  horse 
back,  on  a  tour  through  a  portion  of  the  churches  of  Bethel  Asso- 
ciation. Near  the  Merrimac  I  tarried  with  a  Mr.  Moore,  who  treated 
me  hospitably,  and  furnished  me  with  a  buffalo  skin,  on  which  I 
lodged  for  the  night  very  comfortably.  The  puncheon-floor,  with 
a  buffalo  skin  for  a  bed,  and  a  saddle-tree  for  a  pillow,  furnished  no 
mean  lodging  in  those  frontier  times. 

Next  morning,  before  the  sun  appeared,  I  was  wending  my  way 
down  the  country,  in  company  with  two  men  from  Strawberry,  in 
the  Arkansas  country.  We  passed  the  sulphur  springs,  and  Yan 
Zant's  Mill,  and  rode  on  to  Horine's,  who  kept  a  house  of  enter- 
tainment, for  breakfast.  For  this  and  horse-feed,  each  traveler  paid 
thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents — the  customary  fare,  supper,  horse- 
feed,  and  lodging  for  the  night,  was  uniformly  fifty  cents.  But  if 
it  was  known  the  traveler  was  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and  en 
gaged  in  that  business,  he  was  seldom  charged,  though  the  family 
might  keep  a  house  of  entertainment  as  a  means  of  support. 

I  parted  with  my  companions  at  Herculaneum,  and  followed  a 
"bridle-trail"  near  the  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi,  and  through  an 
immense  tract  of  barrens.  In  one  place,  amid  the  scattering  and 
scrubby  timber  the  fire  was  raging  through  the  tall,  dry  grass,  and 
even  to  the  tops  of  dry  trees.  Beyond  the  fire,  flocks  of  wild  turkeys 
would  start  up  and  light  on  the  trees,  and  the  startled  deer  would 
bound  away  over  the  hills. 

I  reached  Ste.  Genevieve  at  eight  o'clock,  and  put  up  at  Donohue's 
tavern.  The  landlord,  with  a  company  of  gentlemen,  was  busily 
employed  at  the  card-table.  Seeing  that  my  horse  was  made  com- 
fortable, and  getting  quite  an  ordinary  supper,  I  was  successful  in 
obtaining  a  private-room,  a  table  and  candle,  and  was  occupied  in 
writing  until  a  late  hour.  One  prominent  object  of  my  journeying 
was  to  carry  into  effect  the  missionary  society  already  mentioned. 
and  which  was  organized  at  the  time  of  the  Missouri  Association 
on  the  24th  of  October. 

I  had  provided  printed  circulars,  containing  the  constitution  and 


118  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

other  particulars,  and  these,  with  written  letters,  were  sent  off  with 
appointments  to  preach  on  my  return.  At  sunrise,  the  5th,  I  was 
on  my  way  down  the  country,  and,  after  about  fifteen  miles  ride, 
was  at  the  cabins  of  General  Henry  S.  Dodge,  who  was  then  a  salt 
manufacturer  at  the  Mississippi  Saline.  The  Dodge  family  were  from 
Connecticut,  and  anciently  a  family  of  Baptists.  Doctor  Icrael 
Dodge,  father  to  the  gentleman  whose  hospitality  I  was  sharing, 
came  to  Kentucky,  and  from  thence  to  Yincennes,  before  the  close 
of  the  last  century.  General  H.  S.  Dodge,  now  the  venerable  sen- 
ator from  Wisconsin,  was  born  in  that  French  village.  A  brother 
of  Doctor  Dodge,  Elder  Josiah  Dodge,  from  the  same  State,  settled 
in  Kentucky,  and  was  an  efficient  Baptist  preacher.  His  brother, 
the  Doctor,  had  migrated  to  Ste.  Genevieve  before  1794;  for  in 
February  of  that  year  Elder  Josiah  Dodge  made  him  a  visit,  came 
over  to  the  Illinois  country,  and  baptized  four  persons  in  Fountain 
creek. 

The  wife  of  General  H.  S.  Dodge  was  a  firm  and  zealous  Baptist. 
She  was  a  McDaniel,  of  St.  Louis  county,  and  joined  the  church  in 
early  life.  After  breakfast,  and  a  season  of  devotion,  I  rode  through 
the  barrens  to  the  place  where  I  had  attended  the  Bethel  Associa- 
tion, as  already  narrated,  to  John  Du  Yol's,  a  Baptist,  where  I 
passed  the  night.  In  the  vicinity  the  Eoman  Catholics  were  estab- 
lishing a  college  and  a  seminary  for  the  education  of  priests.  Next 
day  I  reached  the  town  of  Jackson  about  sunset,  and  from  thence 
to  Deacon  Thos.  Bull's  house,  where  I  was  cordially  received  and 
hospitably  entertained.  Deacon  Bull  was  one  of  the  constituents 
and  stated-clerk  of  Bethel  church.  He  was  an  elderly  man,  plain 
and  old-fashioned  in  habits,  and  a  warm-hearted  Christian. 

On  the  7th  (Saturday),  I  met  the  church  in  Bethel  meeting-house. 
This  was  a  log-building,  rough  in  style,  but  quite  as  fashionable  as 
any  house  of  worship  in  the  territory.  Elder  Wm.  Street,  who  had 
come  from  a  settlement  down  the  St.  Francois,  had  preached  before 
my  arrival.  The  church  sat  in  order  and  transacted  business.  I 
then  preached  from  Isaiah  hii.  1,  and  Elder  Jas.  P.  Edwards  followed 
me  from  John  xiv.  6.  The  people  tarried  during  all  these  exercises 
with  apparent  satisfaction.  Custom  and  common-sense  are  the  best 
guides  in  such  matters.  Dinner  was  never  thought  of  on  meeting- 
days.  The  Cape  Girardeau  Society,  auxiliary  to  the  "United  So- 
ciety," had  already  been  formed  in  this  vicinity,  and  there  were 
more  real  friends  and  liberal  contributors  to  missions  in  this  church 
than  in  any  other  in  the  territory.  Yet  in  a  few  years,  by  the 
formation  of  Jackson  and  two  other  churches  from  this,  the  death 


CAPE   GIRARDEAU — BOLLINGER'S.  119 

of  some  valuable  members  and  ilie  removal  of  others,  with  the  in- 
troduction of  some  members  of  a  different  spirit,  Bethel  church, 
the  oldest  in  Missouri,  had  Ichabod  written  on  her  doors.  It  became 
a  selfish,  lifeless,  anti-mission  body. 

On  Lord's-day,  November  8th,  I  preached  a  missionary  discourse 
to  a  large  congregation,  from  Exodus  xxxiii.  15  :  "  If  thy  presence 
go  not  with  me,  carry  me  not  up  hence."  A  collection  was  taken, 
amounting  to  thirty-one  dollars  and  thirty-seven  cents.  This  was 
the  second  missionary  collection  ever  made  in  Missouri;  the  first 
was  taken  at  the  Missouri  Association,  on  the  25th  of  October,  of 
tw^elve  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents. 

At  evening  I  rode  to  Jackson,  and  preached  at  the  house  of 
Hon.  Richard  Thomas,  where  I  was  kindly  and  hospitably  enter- 
tained. Mrs.  Thomas  and  her  daughters  were  members  of  Bethel 
church. 

I  continued  visiting  the  settlements  and  preaching  to  the  people 
for  several  days.  I  visited  Cape  Girardeau  and  Ross  Point,  and 
formed  a  Mite  society  at  each  place.  On  the  11th  I  preached  again 
in  Jackson,  and  aided  in  the  organization  of  a  Female  Mite  Society 
of  seventeen  members.  Jackson  at  that  time  w^as  the  county-seat 
of  Cape  Girardeau  county.  It  had  been  laid  off  in  1815 ;  and  at 
the  time  of  my  first  visit,  according  to  the  notes  made  on  the  spot, 
contained  between  sixty  and  seventy  dwelhng-houses,  five  stores, 
two  shoemaker-shops,  one  tannery,  and  two  good  schools,  one  for 
males  and  the  other  for  females.  The  population  in  and  around 
Jackson  were  more  moral,  intelligent,  and  truly  religious  than  the 
people  at  any  village  or  settlement  in  the  territory. 

I  was  now  about  to  leave  Cape  Girardeau  county,  in  a  northwest- 
erly direction,  for  St.  Michael.  The  first  prominent  settlement  was 
Bollinger's,  the  name  of  the  leading  patriarch.  Mr.  Bollinger  and  a 
number  of  other  German  families  made  their  pitch  here,  under  the 
Spanish  Government,  about  the  commencement  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. They  were  nominal  Lutherans,  but  being  destitute  of  a  pastor, 
and  without  schools,  they  degenerated  in  religion,  but  were  indus- 
trious farmers.  Mr.  Bollinger  was  a  member  of  the  first  Legislature 
under  the  State  government,  and  subsequently  either  he  or  his  son 
has  been  repeatedly  a  member.  A  few  years  since  a  new  county 
w-as  laid  off  from  Cape  Girardeau  and  adjacent  counties,  and  named 
after  him. 

The  first  night  after  leaving  Jackson,  I  stopped  with  a  ^Methodist 
family — an  elderly  widow  lady,  her  son,  his  wife  and  three  children 
At  first  I  did  not  make  known  my  profession,  but  commenced  a 


120  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

relift'ious  conversation.  I  soon  found  tliat  though  members  of  the 
society,  neither  could  explain  Iwio  God  could  he  just,  sustain  his 
law,  and  pardon  sinners.  At  first  they  supposed  he  would  do  it 
for  our  prai/ers  ;  then  for  oiTT  reformation;  and  finally  for  our  sin- 
cerity.  This  gave  me  a  favorable  opportunity  to  preach  Jesus  and 
him  crucified,  as  the  only  way  of  pardon.  They  listened  with  pe- 
culiar interest ;  begged  me  to  stay,  give  out  an  appointment,  and 
preach  the  same  doctrine  to  their  neighbors.  But  I  had  appoint- 
ments ahead,  and  left  them  at  sunrise,  after  family-worship.  My 
kind  host  would  take  nothing,  though  he  kept  a  house  for  private 
entertainment,  as  one  means  of  supporting  his  family. 

After  riding  seventeen  miles,  under  the  affliction  of  a  severe  'iick- 
lieadache,  and  calling  on  two  families  to  rest,  I  reached  Brother 
James  James'cabin,  near  St.  Michael,  where  I  tarried.  Here  I  found 
a  venerable  minister  by  the  name  of  George  Guthrie,  formerly  from 
Ohio,  but  now  residing  on  the  Mississippi,  near  the  mouth  of  Saline 
creek.  At  night  we  both  preached  in  St.  Michael  at  the  house  of 
a  Frenchman  whose  name  was  Labbe.  Though  raised  a  Catholic, 
he  had  renounced  that  fallacious  system.  His  wife  w^as  a  Baptist. 
Next  day,  the  Providence  church  held  their  regular  meeting  in  an 
old  log-building  called  the  block-house.  Elder  Guthrie  and  I  both 
preached,  and  left  time  enough  for  the  church  to  attend  to  its 
business.  Next  day,  being  Sabbath,  we  had  the  same  arrangement. 
After  preaching,  Elder  Farrar  baptized  two  females.  At  night  I 
preached  again  in  the  village  of  St.  Michael.  That  village  then  was 
a  very  wicked  place. 

The  following  week  I  visited  and  preached  twice  in  Cook's  settle- 
ment, and  obtained  thirty  dollars,  subscribed  by  seventeen  persons, 
to  have  Elder  Farrar  visit  them,  and  preach  monthly.  I  had  con- 
versed with  the  Elder,  with  Deacon  James,  and  several  other  breth- 
ren, and  found,  if  he  could  have  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  durin'g 
the  year,  he  could  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  ministry.  There  was 
great  destitution  for  fifty  miles  in  each  direction.  Elder  Farrar  was 
a  moderate  preacher,  but  a  godly,  praying  man,  poor  in  this  world's 
goods,  but  his  heart  was  in  the  work.  He  had  truly  a  missionary 
spirit,  of  which  he  gave  evidence  till  his  death,  which  took  place 
in  1829.  Before  I  left  this  field,  I  had  in  subscriptions-  over  sixty 
dollars,  and  a  fair  prospect  that  the  whole  would  be  made  up.  But 
there  was  ignorance  of  the  most  inexcusable  kind,  apathy,  covet- 
ousness,  and  bigotry  in  the  church.  There  was  a  minority  of 
brethren  of  excellent  spirit  and  desirous  of  seeing  the  plan  carried 
into  effect.    Some  weeks  after  my  visit,  the  subject  was  taken  up 


ST.  FIlANCOIS — ELDER    STREET.  121 

jn  the  church,  which  in  fact  had  no  business  with  it.  The  subscrip- 
tions were  vohmtary.  No  one  was  pressed  to  give  any  thing.  The 
church,  or  at  least  the  majority  of  the  men  who  acted,  were  cer- 
tainly under  the  influence  of  the  Evil  One.  Like  the  persecutors 
of  Christ,  they  were  blinded  and  knew  not  what  they  did.  The 
majority  actually  voted  that  the  subscription-papers  be  brought 
forward  and  burnt !  The  deed  was  done  !  and  I  record  this  as  the 
first  overt  act  by  the  antinomian  and  anti-mission  faction  in  Mis- 
souri. Nor  have  I  ever  heard  in  that  State  of  as  flagrant  a  viola- 
tion of  Baptist  rights  and  privileges  as  this.  The  elder  and  the 
dissenting  brethren  bore  all  this  treatment  with  Christian  meekness 
and  patience,  but  the  church  has  never  prospered. 

On  the  20th  of  November,  in  company  wdth  Elder  Farrar,  I 
started  southward  down  the  St.  Francois  river,  to  visit  the  church 
that  was  then  the  farthest  south  of  any  one  in  the  Missouri  Terri- 
tory. "We  rode  over  a  rough,  unbroken  tract  of  country  about 
twenty-five  miles,  and  reached  the  cabin  of  Elder  William  Street 
after  dark.  This  church  bore  the  name  of  St.  Francois.  Its  loca- 
tion could  not  have  been  far  from  the  site  of  Greenville,  the  county- 
seat  of  Wayne,  which  was  established  long  after  my  visit.  This 
church  was  constituted  July  11th,  1816,  by  the  aid  of  Elders  John 
Farrar  and  James  P.  Edwards.  There  w^ere  ten  males  and  thirteen 
female  members  in  the  constitution.  Elder  William  Street,  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  address  his  neighbors,  and  keep  up  rehgious 
worship,  was  ordained  by  choice  of  the  church  the  same  day.  One 
of  the  constituents  was  Jonathan  Hubbell,  who,  as  I  learned  from 
Elder  Street,  came  into  the  country  and  lived  several  years  under 
the  Spanish  Government,  near  the  present  site  of  Jackson.  Though 
never  ordained,  he  preached  to  the  people  in  a  private  way.  He 
had  been  a  Baptist  for  many  years,  and  was  one  of  the  first  w^l  o 
came  into  that  part  of  the  territory. 

Both  the  Providence  and  Belleview  churches  were  at  first  "  arms' ' 
of  Bethel  church.  Providence  church  was  constituted  in  August, 
1814,  by  aid  of  Elders  Wilson  Thompson,  John  Farrar,  and  James 
E.  Welch,  from  Kentucky,  then  a  licentiate.  The  latter,  by  request, 
wrote  their  articles  of  faith  and  covenant.  A  year  or  more  before 
this,  Elder  Farrar  was  ordained  by  Bethel  church,  aided  by  Elders 
Golden  Williams  (then  a  preacher  in  the  church),  and  Fielding 
Wolfe  from  Kentucky.  Elder  Williams,  shortly  after  this,  was  dis- 
missed from  Bethel  church,  and  migrated  to  the  Boon's  Lick  coun- 
try, where  I  may  notice  him  at  a  future  time. 

On  Saturday,  November  21.  the  St.  Francois  church  held  the 
11 


122  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M,  PECK. 

monthly  meeting  in  a  rougli  log-cabin  in  the  woods.  The  plan  of 
the  "  United  Society  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,"  was  laid  before 
the  church.  Elder  Street  had  the  intelligence,  kindness  of  heart, 
and  Christian  spirit,  to  comprehend  the  plan,  and  engage  heartily 
in  the  work.  Not  another  male  member  of  this  body  of  Christian 
professors  understood  or  cared  about  the  object.  They  were  stupid, 
listless,  and  apparently  indifferent  to  every  thing.  The  people 
throughout  the«e  extreme  frontier  settlements  w^ere  quite  ignorant ; 
few  could  reaO,  and  fewer  families  had  Bibles.  They  knew  not  the 
name  of  a  single  missionary  on  earth,  and  could  not  comprehend 
the  reasons  why  money  should  be  raised  for  the  expenses,  or  vrny 
ministers  should  leave  their  own  neighborhood  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  destitute.  They  manifested  the  same  apathy  in  their  worldly 
business.  A  small  cornfield  and  a  truck-patch  was  the  height  of 
their  ambition.  Yenison,  bear-meat,  and  hog-meat  dressed  and 
cooked  in  the  most  slovenly  and  filthy  manner,  with  corn-bread 
baked  in  form  of  a  pone,  and  when  cold  as  hard  as  a  brickbat,  con- 
stituted their  provisions.  Coffee  and  tea  were  prohibited  articles 
amongst  this  class;  for  had  they  possessed  the  articles,  not  one 
woman  in  ten  knew  how  to  cook  them.  Not  a  school  had  existed. 
A  kind  of  half-savage  life  appeared  to  be  their  choice.  Elder  Street 
and  family  appeared  to  be  an  exception  ;  and  he  was  doing  his  best 
to  raise  his  neighbors  in  the  scale  of  civihzation  ;  but  he  had  a  hard 
field  to  cultivate.  Doubtless,  in  a  few  years,  when  the  land  came 
into  market,  this  class  of  "  squatters"  cleared  out  for  the  frontier 
range  in  Arkansas.  Elder  Street  remained ;  others  of  more  indus- 
try came  in ;  and  some  ten  or  twelve  ^^ears  later,  w-e  heard  he  had 
organized  a  Bible-class  and  Sabbath-school,  and  taught  it  with  suc- 
cess. He  was  a  moderate  preacher,  a  spiritually-minded  man,  de- 
siring to  do  all  the  good  he  could.  The  last  time  we  find  his  name 
on  any  document  is  as  the  preacher  of  St.  Francois  church,  in  the 
minutes  of  the  Black  River  Association,  of  which  he  was  Moderator 
in  1836.  He  died  in  1843  or  '44,  at  a  very  advanced  age,  probaljly 
near  ninety. 

I  returned  home  with  Elder  Farrar,  Sabbath  night.  My  route 
that  week  was  through  Doe  Run  and  Belleview  settlements,  where  I 
preached  and  introduced  the  plan  of  missions  ;  preached  in  several 
other  settlements ;  was  detained  two  days  by  a  violent  storm  of 
rain,  and  preached  at  St.  Louis  on  the  30th  of  November. 

One  specific  object,  during  my  excursions  through  the  territory, 
was  to  examine  into  the  condition  of  the  schools  that  existed,  and 


IRISH   SCHOOLMASTERS — CURIOUS   CUSTOMS.  123 

aid  the  people  in  procuring  a  better  class  of  teachers  than  could 
generally  be  found. 

After  having  gained  correct  knowledge  by  personal  inspection  iri 
most  of  the  settlements,  or  by  the  testimony  of  reliable  persons 
living  in  such  remote  settlements  as  I  could  not  visit,  the  conclu- 
sion was  that  at  least  one-third  of  the  schools  were  really  a  ])ublic 
nuisance,  and  did  the  people  more  harm  than  good ;  another  third 
about  balanced  the  account,  by  doing  about  as  much  harm  as  good , 
and  perhaps  one-third  were  advantageous  to  the  community  in 
various  degrees.  Not  a  few  drunken,  profane,  worthless  Irishmen 
were  perambulating  the  country,  and  getting  up  schools ;  and  yet 
they  could  neither  speak,  read,  pronounce,  spell,  or  write  the  Eng- 
lish language.  These  agents  were  encouraged  by  the  priests  to  go 
among  the  people. 

A  custom  prevailed  extensively,  which  had  existed  in  the  Southern 
States  from  their  early  settlement,  of  turning  out  from  the  school- 
house  the  master  at  Christmas,  and  frequently  at  Easter.  This 
custom  can  be  traced  back  to  the  Feudal  age  in  the  mother  country. 
It  belonged  to  the  rude  sports  and  semi-riots  encouraged  by  the 
Eomish  priests  and  feudal  lords,  to  keep  the  common  people  from 
thinking  about  their  down-trodden  condition.  These  mock-festivals, 
when  the  masses  elected  their  "abbots  of  unreason,"  "bishops  of  mis- 
rule," so  graphically  depicted  by  Walter  Scott,  are  illustrations  of  the 
anarchy  permitted  and  even  encouraged  by  the  authorities  in  Church 
and  State.  The  half-reformed  English  hierarchy  under  Elizabeth, 
James,  and  the  Charleses,  gave  countenance  to  similar  disorders  to 
gratify  the  whims,  caprice,  and  the  low  sensualities  of  the  people, 
just  as  the  priests,  with  their  "  file  leader"  in  St.  Louis,  now  encour- 
age and  countenance  the  low  vices  and  Sunday  revehngs  of  their 
degraded  subjects. 

The  schoolmaster  riot  was  a  common  occurrence  in  Missouri  at 
the  period  of  our  date,  and  in  not  a  few  instances.  The  Irish  mas- 
ters to  whom  we  have  alluded,  loved  their  poteen  dearly ;  and  fre- 
quently negotiated  with  the  youngsters,  who  were  ringleaders  in 
misrule,  for  a  "  treat."  "  Cherry-bounce,"  sweetened  with  honey, 
was  the  favorite  beverage.  The  year  before  our  tour  South,  men- 
tioned above,  Mr.  O'Flaherty,  not  a  hundred  miles  from  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve, did  more  than  his  pupils  exacted,  the  preceding  Christmas. 
He  procured  a  supply  of  cherry-bounce,  whisky  and  honey ;  and 
while  he  took  his  full  share,  distributed  it  so  generously  that  one- 
half  his  pupils  were  made  "  orful  sick,"  as  their. parents  expressed 
it.     Some  had  to  be  carried  home,  and  the  doctor  called  in;  while 


124  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

the  master  required  a  wide  path,  and  made  zig-zag  tracks  in  reach- 
ing his  lodging-place.  He  was  turned  out  in  fact  by  the  indignant 
parents. 

Our  efforts  were  directed  through  the  "United  Society"  already 
mentioned,  to  find  out  well-qualified  teachers,  and  recommend  them 
to  such  settlements  as  would  sustain  them.  This  measure,  fraught 
with  no  small  benefits  to  the  people,  cost  us  nothing  but  a  little 
trouble  in  corresponding  and  in  our  explorations. 

On  the  6th  of  December,  at  night,  agreeably  to  previous  arrange- 
ments, I  preached  a  missionary  sermon  in  the  Legislative  Hall  in 
St.  Louis,  from  Mark  xvi.  19,  20,  and  received  a  collection  of  twenty- 
six  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  for  the  "United  Society,"  to  sus- 
tain itinerant  missionaries  within  the  territory.  This  was  the  first 
collection  for  missions  and  the  first  sermon  for  that  purpose  in 
St.  Louis. 

A  system  of  itinerant  missions,  or  "circuit-preaching,"  as  our 
Methodist  friends  call  it,  is  the  most  economical  and  successful 
mode  of  supplying  the  destitute,  and  strengthening  and  building 
up  feeble  churches,  that  has  been  tried.  It  is  truly  the  apostolic 
mode ;  and  if  the  filiger  of  Divine  providence  ever  pointed  out  a 
method  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  new  and  sparsely-settled 
districts,  it  is  itinerating  or  circuit  missions. 

The  new-fangled  notion  that  has  gotten  into  Baptist  heads,  and 
Baptist  management  of  missions,  that  pastors  of  churches,  and 
none  but  pastors,  are  the  instrumentalities  God  has  appointed  to 
extend  the  borders  of  his  kingdom,  needs  to  be  examined  and 
brought  to  the  test  of  the  Scriptures  and  common-sense. 

We  know  that  bishops,  or  pastors,  were  provided  among  the 
ascension-gifts,  and  elders,  or  pastors  (not  one  merely),  were  ap 
pointed  in  the  apostolic  churches.  Their  qualifications  are  specified 
in  the  epistles  of  Paul  to  Timothy  and  Titus.  But  rue  find  no  re- 
port of  the  labors  of  this  class  of  men.  I  should  like  some  one  to 
give  a  sketch  of  the  doings  and  success  of  these  bishops,  and  refer- 
ences made  to  the  Scriptures  where  the  history  of  these  men's 
labors  is  recorded.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  contains  a  sketch  of 
the  labors  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists  ;  but  these  were  itinr;rants 
and  traveled  from  church  to  church,  from  country  to  country,  as 
pioneers  in  the  gospel  field.  They  planted  and  watered  new  churches, 
and  taught  them  to  look  out  among  their  members  men  who  were 
able  to  preside  over  them. 


VISIT    TO    r>AMEL    BOONE.  125 


CHAPTER    X.       '•'.    .'v'  '      ' 

Tour  to  the  Boone's  Lick  Country. 

Previous  to  this  tour,  and  after  consultation  with  Rev.  Mr.  Gid- 
dings  and  other  friends,  Mr.  Welch  and  the  writer  first  held  a  meet- 
ing with  Mr.  G.  and  drew  up  a  plan  for  the  Missouri  Bible  Society. 
An  abortive  efiort  had  been  made,  at  the  visit  of  Messrs.  Mills 
and  Smith,  to  form  such  a  society  in  1814,  but  it  proved  a  failure.* 
A  pubUc  meeting  was  held  in  Mr.  Gidding's  school-room,  on  the  9th 
of  December,  and  after  a  sermon  by  the  writer  from  Psalm  cxix.  97  : 
"  0,  how  I  love  thy  law  :  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day,"  the  soci- 
ety was  formed.  It  was  of  course  made  auxiliary  to  the  American 
Bible  Society,  from  which  we  received  a  supply  of  Bibles  and  Testa- 
ments in  the  spring.  I  mention  this  as  a  point  from  which  a  system 
of  efforts  proceeded  in  supplying  the  destitute  population  through- 
out Missouri  and  Illinois. 

Having  made  provision  for  my  family  to  reside  in  St.  Louis  dur- 
ing the  winter,  on  the  12th  of  December  I  started  on  a  tour  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Missouri  river  for  two  months.  I  left  my  family 
sick,  but  appointments  had  been  sent  forward ;  and  I  knew  of  no 
other  way  for  an  itinerant  missionary,  but  to  go  forward,  meet  his 
engagements,  and  trust  his  family  and  all  things  else  to  the  disposal 
of  that  Providence  who  watches  over  the  birds  of  heaven,  numbers 
the  hairs  of  each  one's  head,  and  has  given  assurance  of  being  with 
his  ministers  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Nor  have  I 
ever  been  disappointed  in  this  exercise  of  confidence  in  the  Divine 
government. 

From  St.  Charles,  where  I  crossed  the  river  amidst  running-ice, 
mv  route  lay  through  the  scattering  settlements  near  the  river, 

*  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Mills  and  Rev.  Daniel  Smith,  both  natives  of  Con- 
necticut, were  serrt  forth  as  explorers  by  the  missionary  societies  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  who  traveled  extensively  in  the  Mia- 
sisssippi  valley,  distributing  the  Scriptures  and  finding  out  the  spir- 
itual wants  of  the  new  settlements.  The  latter,  Mr.  Smith,  settled 
in  Natchez,  Miss.,  and  the  former,  Mr.  Miils,  became  the  picneer  of 
the  Colonization  Society  in  founding  Liberia  in  Africa. 


126  MExMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK. 

•where  I  had  appointments  day  and  night.  The  "  old  Boone's  Lick 
trace"  throj.igh  the  cprairies  was  no  route  then  for  a  missionary. 
At'ter:paG3i>ig  the  tus^ern-stand  oi'  Nicholas  Kuntz,  a  rough,  wicked, 
and  yet  hospitable  old  German,  the  next  pitch  was  "  Camp-branch," 
fifty 'miles  ab9^se  St.  Charles,  and  the  next  Van-Bibber's  at  Loutre 
Lick.  '•I-fGilOwed-a  bridle-path  through  the  hills  and  bluffs  near  the 
river.  At  old  Brother  Darst's  house  in  Femme-Osage  settlement, 
I  preached  and  formed  a  Mite  society  to  aid  the  "  United  Society 
for  the  spread  of  the  gospel."  Here  I  was  met  by  Flanders  Calla- 
way, a  leading  member  of  the  Baptist  church  near  the  mouth  of 
Charette,  called  Friendship.  His  wife,  an  excellent  woman,  was 
Kebecca,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Colonel  Daniel  Boone.  After 
dinner  we  rode  together  a  few  miles  to  the  cabin  of  Squire  Boone, 
a  nephew  of  Daniel.  There  has  been  a  Squire  and  a  Daniel  in  all 
the  old  Boone  families  I  have  been  able  to  trace  out.  Daniel  had 
a  brother  by  the  name  of  Squire.  He  had  an  uncle  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, who  raised  a  large  family  of  children,  and  amongst  them 
were  Daniel,  Squire,  and  George.  This  coincidence  of  names  in  the 
Boone  connection  has  made  sad  work  in  the  "  biographies"  and 
"histories"  of  the  veritable  Daniel  Boone.  The  Squire  Boone  and 
his  wife  where  we  lodged  were  Baptists  from  Kentucky..  They 
w^ere  true-hearted  people,  and  possessed  and  retained  the  true  mis- 
sionary spirit.  A  few  years  later  I  found  them  above  the  Loutre, 
and  to  the  left  of  the  Boone's  Lick  trace. 

The  morning  of  December  16th  was  clear,  cold,  and  frosty.  We 
started  at  the  rising  of  the  sun,  and  rode  to  Brother  Callaway's 
cluster  of  cabins  on  the  bank  of  the  Missouri — the  distance  being 
twenty  miles — where,  in  expectation,  an  excellent  breakfast  was  in 
rapid  preparation.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  saw  and  conversed 
with  the  veritable  Daniel  Boone,  the  pioneer  and  hunter  of  Ken- 
tucky. Instead  of  writing  a  new  article  of  the  impressions  made 
on  my  mind,  as  recorded  in  the  life  of  Boone,  found  in  Dr.  Spark's 
edition  of  the  "Library  of  American  biography,"  written  in  1846, 
vol.  xxiii.,  two  paragraphs  are  here  inserted  from  that  volume  : 

"  On  his  introduction  to  Colonel  Boone,  the  impressions  were 
those  of  surprise,  admiration,  and  delight.  In  boyhood,  the  writer 
had  read  of  Daniel  Boone,  the  pioneer  of  Kentucky,  the  celebrated 
Indian  fighter  ;  and  imagination  had  portrayed  a  rough,  fierce- 
looking,  uncouth  specimen  of  humanity,  and  of  course  at  this  period 
of  hfe  a  fretful  and  unattractive  old  man.  But  in  every  respect 
the  reverse  appeared.  His  high,  bold  forehead  was  slightly  bald, 
and  his  silvered  locks  were  combed  smooth:  his  countenance  waa 


DANIEL    BOONE.  127 

ruddy  and  I\iir,  and  exhibited  the  simplicity  of  a  child.  A  smile 
frequently  played  over  his  countenance  in  conversation.  His  voice 
was  soft  and  melodious.  At  repeated  interviews,  an  irritable  ex- 
pression was  never  heard.  His  clothing  was  the  coarse,  plain  manu- 
facture of  the  family ;  but  every  thing  denoted  that  kind  of  comfort 
that  was  congenial  to  his  habits  and  feelings,  and  evinced  a  happy 
old  age.  His  room  was  part  of  a  range  of  log-cabins  kept  in  order 
by  his  affectionate  daughter  and  grand-daughters. 

''  Every  member  of  the  household  appeared  to  take  delight  in  ad- 
ministering to  his  comforts.  He  was  sociable,  communicative  in 
replying  to  questions,  but  not  in  introducing  incidents  of  his  own 
history.  He  was  intelligent ;  for  he  had  treasured  up  the  experience 
and  observations  of  more  than  fourscore  years.  In  this  and  other 
interviews,  every  incident  of  his  eventful  life  might  have  been 
drawn  from  his  lips  ;  but  veneration  being  the  predominant  feeling 
which  his  presence  excited,  no  more  than  a  few  brief  notes  were 
taken.  He  spoke  feelingly,  and  with  solemnity,  of  being  a  creature 
of  Providence,  ordained  by  heaven  as  a  pioneer  in  the  wilderness, 
to  advance  the  civilization  and  extension  of  his  country." 

He  was  not  moody  and  unsocial,  as  if  desirous  of  shunning 
society  and  civilization. 

A  thousand-and-one  tales  told  of  Colonel  Daniel  Boone  are  as 
purely  fictitious  as  the  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainment. 

I  preached  in  the  day  and  evening  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Callaway, 
with  Colonel  Boone  for  a  hearer. 

On  Thursday  morning,  the  17th  of  December,  I  rode  along  a  blind 
trail,  or  bridle-path,  and  over  hills  and  through  ravines,  fifteen  miles 
to  the  cabin  of  Mr.  James  Stevenson.  My  route  lay  along  the 
bluffs  that  bordered  on  the  Missouri  river,  the  country  thinly  settled, 
and  wagon-lracks  seldom  seen.  1  had  sent  on  an  appointment  at 
Mr.  McDermid's,  but  it  had  failed  in  being  circulated. 

Mr.  S.,  of  whose  hospitality  I  was  a  welcome  sharer,  was  an  ex 
p6rienced  hunter,  then  about  sixty  years  of ,  age.  Two  young 
panthers  graced  the  one  roqpi  that  answered  for  kitchen,  dining- 
liall,  and  lodging-room.  My  curiosity  was  gratified  to  hear  and  learn 
something  of  the  exploits  of  the  chase.  In  our  boyhood  the  story 
of  "Putnam  and  the  wolf,"  so  graphically  described  by  Colonel 
Humphry,  his  biographer,  had  been  often  read  with  thrilling  in- 
terest.   But  here  was  a  man  that  threw  old  Putnam  into  the  shade. 

A  few  years  previously  to  my  visit,  bear-hunting  furnished  both 
sp6rt  and  profit  on  both  sides  of  the  Missouri.  On  one  year  espe- 
cially (we  think  it  was  1807-8),  the   common  black  bear  was  so 


J28  MEMOIR   or   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

plenty  on  this  range  as  to  satiate  and  tire  out  the  hunters.  Mr.  S. 
narrated  a  most  terrific  account  of  a  contest  he  had  with  a  wounded 
bear,  and  finished  the  story  by  exposing  one  of  his  arms  and  side, 
where  tlie  teeth^nd  claws  of  the  enraged  animal  had  left  scars  that 
were  truly  frightful.  The  old  hunter  obtained  the  victory.  He 
had  broken  the  barrel  of  his  rifle  over  the  head  of  the  enraged 
animal,  and  while  one  arm  and  his  side  were  at  the  mercy  of  the 
bear,  he  was  successful  in  wresting  his  hunting-knife  from  its  sheath, 
and  plunging  it  into  the  heart  of  his  assailant. 

My  next  appointment,  at  twelve  o'clock,  was  twenty  miles,  and 
no  house  on  the  route.  Obtaining  directions  about  the  bhnd  trail 
I  had  to  follow  I  returned  thanks  to  my  kind  host,  and  was  on  ray 
horse  before  the  sun  peered  his  bright  face  over  the  bluffs,  thinking 
I  could  reach  the  preaching-station  and  get  breakfast  before  the 
people  assembled.  The  day  was  pleasant,  the  air  mild,  and  I  found 
it  expedient  to  mail  one  overcoat  with  my  traveling-vahse  behind 
me.  The  morning  wore  away,  and  I  must  have  traveled  a  dozen  or 
fifteen  miles,  when  I  found  the  path  I  had  followed  came  to  an  end. 
I  had  passed  divers  paths  that  diverged  to  the  right  and  left,  but 
the  one  I  followed  was  the  plainest,  and  the  tracks  of  horses  de- 
ceived me,  until  I  found  myself  in  a  large  rush  bottom. 

"Taking  the  back-track"  is  the  only  remedy  in  such  cases.  As 
I  came  to  a  fork  I  would  follow  that  till  it  proved  to  be  equally 
fallacious.  After  several  trials,  I  found  myself  in  sight  of  the  turbid 
Missouri,  and  soon  discovered  that  the  path  I  had  missed  was  a  dim 
trail  that  wound  around  a  point  of  the  bluff.  I  now  pushed  on  in 
hopes  of  making  up  for  lost  time,  but  I  had  not  gone  a  mile  before 
I  discovered  that  my  overcoat  and  valise  were  gone  from  behind  me. 

The  only  alternative  was  to  "  take  the  back-track"  again,  and 
ride  till  I  found  my  missing  property.  This  going  and  returning 
caused  me  a  ride  of  a  dozen  miles.  The  overcoat  and  other  articles 
lay  unmolested  in  the  path  where  they  had  dropped  in  the  early 
part  of  the  day.  Just  as  the  sun  set  I  came  in  sight  of  a  clearing, 
and,  to  my  surprise,  found  more  tha^  twenty  men  and  women,  who 
had  patiently  waited  from  the  hour  of  twelve  to  hear  the  "  strange 
preacher."  As  some  of  the  company  had  to  return  liome,  eight  or 
ten  miles,  that  night,  I  arranged  to  preach  at  once  to  the  com- 
pany present.  Several  stayed  through  the  night,  amongst  whom 
WTre  Brethren  Smith  and  Coats,  who  came  to  meet  and  pilot  me 
through  to  the  monthly  meeting  of  Salem  church,  on  Coats'  Prairie, 
the  next  day.  The  family  where  we  stayed  were  Methodists,  and 
once  in  three  months  a  circuit-preacher  visited  them. 


A   LATE    BREAKFAST — "WILLIAM   COATS.  120 

After  the  people  had  dispersed,  our  kind  hostess  set  about  pre- 
paring supper  for  the  family  and  company  who  tarried.  After  com- 
mencing the  evening  meal,  Mrs.  C.  remarked,  rather  apologetically  : 
"I  reckon  that  you  have  had  no  dinner  to-dayl^  I  hope  you  will 
find  something  that  will  answer."  "I  purpose,  madam,  to  eat  my 
breakfast  first,  and  then  I  will  talk  about  dinner  and  supper." 
'•  Law  me,  have  you  eat  no  breakfast  to-day  ?"  "  Not  a  morsel  has 
entered  my  mouth  this  day  till  I  sat  down  to  your  table."  I  then 
gave  the  company  a  brief  sketch  of  my  adventures  during  the  day. 
"But  why  did  you  not  tell  us  when  you  first  arrived?  I  would 
have  had  a  bite  set  before  you  at  once."  "  Because  I  saw  here  a 
number  of  people  hungry  for  the  gospel,  and  I  knew  they  would 
go  home.  I  much  preferred  to  do  my  preaching.  Now  I  can  eat 
leisurel}?^,  and  get  a  comfortable  night's  rest,  and  be  off  with  these 
brethren  early  in  the  morning."  "And  I  shan't  let  ^^ou  go  before 
breakfast,  so  you  may  make  yourself  easy."  And  sure  enough,  our 
bustling,  industrious,  tidy  hostess,  had  her  table  spread  ;  corn  cakes, 
venison,  and  fresh  pork,  with  fine-flavored  coffee,  graced  the  board, 
and  a  hearty  welcome  crowned  all.  Having  had  a  season  of  family- 
worship,  we  parted  from  this  hospitable  and  pious  family  just  as 
the  rising  sun  threw  his  beams  on  the  tops  of  the  forest  trees. 

The  weather  was  quite  moderate,  and  a  pleasant  ride  of  fifteen 
miles  brought  us  to  the  cabin  of  Brother  William  Coats,  on  the 
border  of  a  little  prairie  that  bore  his  name,  as  the  first  settler  in 
all  that  region.  Here  my  colleague  gathered  a  small  church  the 
preceding  June,  and  mine  was  the  first  visit  of  a  Baptist  preacher 
more  than  six  months  after.  Prayer-meetings  had  been  kept  up 
by  Brethren  Coats  and  Smith.     The  church  was  called  Salem. 

Brother  Coats  had  been  a  member  of  a  Baptist  church  more 
than  twenty  years.  During  this  period,  whenever  he  enjoyed  the 
presence  of  God,  his  mind  was  deeply  exercised  about  preaching 
the  gospel  to  his  fellow-men ;  but  when  in  a  worldly,  backshding 
state,  these  impressions  left  him.  He  came  from  Tennessee  in 
1817,  and  made  the  first  settlement  on  the  prairie  that  bore  his 
name.  We  held  a  long  conversation  with  him  about  his  duty,  and 
in  less  than  two  years  he  was  numbered  among  the  preachers. 

Lord's-day,  December  20th.  The  people  collected  fronr.  the  Bcat. 
tering  settlements  ten  or  fifteen  miles  around  to  hear  the  gospel. 
I  preached  from  Ephes.  ii.  8  :  "For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through 
faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves  ;  it  is  the  gift  of  God." 

There  was  a  vein  of  crude  antinomianism  that  ran  through  the 
minds  of  that  class  of  Baptists  who  claimed  descent  from  the  partv 


130  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.  PECK. 

called  "  Regulars"  in  Kentucl^y  and  Tennessee.  They  could  not 
comprehend  that  God  in  all  the  sovereign  displays  of  his  grace 
worked  by  means,  and  made  use  of  instrumentalities  in  the  con- 
version of  sinnip-s.  Hence  preachers,  with  crude  and  imperfect 
notions  about  God  working  in  us  to  do  his  own  will  and  pleasure, 
knew  not  how  to  preach  the  gospel  to  imconverted  sinners.  These 
mistaken  notions  lay  at  the  bottom  of  opposition  to  missions  and 
to  all  instrumentalities  for  the  conversion  of  men.  The  mind  of 
Brother  Coats,  before  referred  to,  had  been  stereotyped  with  the 
fallacies  he  had  heard,  mixed  up  with  gospel  truth,  from  early  life. 
He  was  a  plain,  strong-minded  man,  who  read  the  Bible  and  thought 
out  its  meaning  for  himself;  but  he  had  been  trained  under  that 
mode  of  preaching  which  hampered  his  feelings.  He  lost  twenty 
years  of  usefulness  for  want  of  Scriptural  instruction  when  he  first 
joined  the  church .  For,  amongst  other  errors,  this  class  of  preach- 
ers taught  that  no  one  must  intermeddle  with  those  whom  God 
called  to  the  ministry  ;  He  would  bring  them  out  "  in  his  own  good 
time." 

At  the  close  of  preaching,  the  "  Coats'  Prairie  Mite  Society, 
auxiliary,"  etc.,  was  formed  and  several  dollars  raised.  After 
meeting  closed,  I  rode  ten  miles  in  company  with  Brother  Thomas 
Smith,  with  whom  I  had  formed  an  interesting  acquaintanca  at 
the  Missouri  Association  in  October.  He  was  an  active,  intel- 
ligent man,  with  a  clear,  strong  mind,  and  one  of  the  very  few 
lay-brethren  I  found  wdio  understood  the  duty  of  a  Christian  pro- 
fessor. His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  David  Darst,  one  of  the  old 
pioneers  who  came  into  the  country  and  settled  on  the  Femme- 
Osage,  under  the  Spanish  Government. 

Brother  Smith  had  none  of  the  troubles  of  Brother  Coats  in 
leconciling  the  purposes  of  God  with  the  means  and  instrument- 
ahties  He  has  directed  us  to  employ.  He  was  clear-headed  in 
Scripture  doctrine,  and  warm-liearted  in  Christian  practice.  But 
the  mysterious  providence  of  God  saw  fit  to  cut  him  down  in  a  few 
years  and  take  him  to  the  kingdom  on  high ! 

Monday,  the  21st,  was  spent  with  this  hospitable  family  in  writing 
and  arranging  my  affairs  for  the  further  prosecution  of  the  mission. 

Tuesday,  22d.  Accompanied  by  Brother  Smith,  I  set  off  at  an 
early  hour.  A  ride  of  fifteen  miles  brought  me  to  the  French  vil- 
lage  of  Cote  Sans  Dessein  (literally,  "  a  hill  without  purpose.") 
This  village  derives  its  name  from  an  isolated  hill  or  bluff  that 
stands,  as  if  by  accident,  near  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  a  short 
distance  above  the  town  site. 


BRAVERY    OF    LOUIS    ROI.  131 

A  colony  of  French  families,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Baptiste 
Louis  Roi,  settled  here  in  1808.  The  Indians  began  to  be  trouble- 
some in  1812,  and  M.  Eoi,  with  a  few  others,  erected  a  block-house 
and  an  inclosurc  with  palisades  to  protect  thd^'famiHes.  But  as 
danger  approached,  Eoi  was  deserted  by  his  comrades,  who  went 
down  the  river  in  canoes,  and  left  him  with  his  men  and  a  dozen 
women  and  children  to  defend  the  fort.  In  the  spring  of  1814,  they 
were  assailed  by  a  large  company  of  hostile  savages.  One  of  the 
men  took  fright,  hid  himself,  muttered  over  the  prayers  he  learned 
from  the  priest,  and  crossed  himself,  till  he  was  driven  from  his 
hiding-place  by  Roi,  who  threatened  to  shoot  him  if  he  did  not  quit 
his  foolery  and  fight  for  his  hfe. 

The  heroic  women  cast  bullets,  cut  patches,  and  loaded  the  rifles 
while  Roi  and  his  unflinching  comrade  poured  on  the  assailants  a 
murderous  fire  in  defence  of  the  fort  till  fourteen  braves  were  slain, 
and  many  more  w^ounded.  After  several  bold  attempts  to  storm 
the  fort,  they  were  driven  back  with  reduced  numbers.  They  then 
fastened  combustible  materials  to  their  arrows  and  attempted  to 
burn  the  building.  The  supply  of  W'ater  in  the  fort  was  scanty, 
but  the  women  used  it  with  parsimonious  economy.  The  blazing 
torches  of  the  savages  were  sent  on  the  roof  with  frightful  ac- 
curacy from  a  ravine  that  sheltered  the  assailants,  and  each  new 
blaze  called  out  the  demoniac  yells  of  the  Indians.  At  this  crisis 
the  water  was  drained  from  the  last  bucket,  and  the  blazing  fire 
oroke  out  afresh !  Even  Baptiste  Roi  himself  looked  aghast  on 
vhe  helpless  group  around  him  ;  the  house  on  fire,  and  no  means  to 
extinguish  it !  Must  they  be  burned  ahve,  or  fall  victims  to  the 
tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  !  Just  at  that  crisis,  Madame  Roi  ap- 
peared with  the  night-vessel  from  her  lodging-room,  the  contents 
of  wdiich  just  served  to  extinguish  the  fire  and  save  the  lives  of 
the  party.  The  Indians  with  the  howl  of  despair  departed  with 
Iheir  wounded,  leaving  the  dead  bodies  of  fourteen  braves  to  be 
ir.terred  by  the  heroic  defenders. 

It  was  not  till  after  the  war  that  this  extraordinary  defense  be- 
came generally  knowm.  The  young  men  of  St.  Louis  honored  him 
R'ith  the  present  of  a  costly  rifle  for  his  gallant  behavior. 

Passing  along  the  river  bank,  I  reached  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Fer- 
gusson,  where  my  reception  w^as  friendly  and  hospitable.  Here  I 
found  a  copy  of  Goldsmith's  writings,  and  several  other  choice 
books — a  rare  thing  in  that  early  period  of  log-cabins. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  the  23d,  I  found  my  horse  was  sick  and 
lame.     It  was  the  same  horse  that  brought  my  family  from  the 


132  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

State  of  Connecticut  to  Shawneetown,  and  which  performed  hard 
and  vakiable  service  through  the  summer  and  autumn.  After 
some  detention,  I  rode  a  short  distance  to  the  cabin  of  a  Mr.  Scott, 
where  I  preached  to  a  small  company. 

Next  morning,  my  horse  being  some  better,  I  rode  twelve  miles 
to  Round  Prairie  in  company  with  a  young  man  by  the  name  of 
Henderson.  Here  I  stopped  a  while  to  converse  and  pray  wdth 
Mrs.  Henderson,  the  mother  of  my  travehng  companion.  She  be- 
longed to  the  Presbyterian  Church  when  she  left  the  old  States,  and 
expressed  great  satisfaction  to  see  a  minister  of  Christ.  It  was  no 
unusual  occurrence  to  find  intelHgent  and  pious  Christians  in  the 
scattered  log-cabins  on  these  frontiers.  And  no  service  is  more 
important  in  the  labors  of  an  itinerant  than  family  visits,  and  in- 
structing and  consoling  the  people  of  God,  who,  like  sheep  scattered 
through  the  wilderness,  are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  pastor.  After 
a  season  of  Christian  conversation  and  prayer,  and  partaking  of 
refreshments,  I  proceeded  forward  to  the  Two-Mile  Prairie,  and 
received  the  hospitahty  of  a  Mr.  Brant. 

December  25th.  The  people  with  whom  I  tarried  last  night  are 
young,  with  one  little  child,  appear  to  be  in  fine  health  and  spirits,  and 
have  come  to  this  new  country  to  obtain  land  at  government-prices 
when  it  comes  into  market.  They  are  industrious,  active,  and  keep 
private  entertainment  for  travelers.  They  are  not  religious,  but 
civil  and  quiet,  as  were  four  travelers  who  tarried  at  the  same  place. 
Learning  by  inquiry  that  I  was  a  missionary,  I  was  invited  to  pray 
with  the  company  before  we  retired.  This  morning  they  refused 
pay  for  my  entertainment,  and  invited  me  to  call  and  preach  when- 
ever I  passed  that  way. 

To-day  my  route  was*  first  across  the  Two  Mile  Prairie.  It  de 
rives  its  name  from  its  average  width,  commences  between  two 
points  of  timber  towards  the  Missouri,  and  extends  a  long  distance 
northward  until  lost  in  the  Grand  Prairie.  Here  are  aboiit  a  dozen 
families  in  log-cabins  scattered  along  its  borders.  Crossing  this 
prairie  in  a  horse  trail,  and  after  riding  several  miles  through  tim- 
ber and  brushwood,  I  came  to  a  Mr.  H 's,  where  report  said  break- 
fast could  be  obtained,  and  which  offered  quite  a  contrast  with  the 
family  of  last  night.  The  cabin  was  a  single  room  of  most  primi- 
tive fashion,  spice-bush  tea  was  a  substitute  for  coffee,  and  the  flesh 
of  hog,  bear,  deer,  and  elk  was  plenty,  of  which  the  landlord  showed 
me  enough  to  supply  a  regiment.  Tlie  corn-dodgers  were  cold  and 
quite  unpalatable  ;  for  the  good  woman  had  never  learned  the  art 
of  cleanliness  and  cookery.     I'he  man  was  a  successful  hunter,  but 


TWO    MILE    PRAIRIE — A   BAPTIST    MUTE.  133 

probably  understood  very  little  of  agTicnlturc.  I  paid  fifty  cents 
for  these  accommodations  ;  for  my  horse  was  lame,  and  refused  to 
eat. 

As  I  proceeded  westward,  cabins  and  smokes  from  clearings  be- 
came more  frequent.  The  Methodist  circuit-preachers,  Messrs. 
McAllister  and  Jones,  pass  through  and  preach  in  these  scattering 
settlements  about  once  in  six  weeks,  and  Dr.  David  Doyle,  a  Baptist 
minister  from  North  Carolina,  settled  the  last  spring  to  the  left  of 
my  trail  and  near  the  Two  Mile  Prairie.  He  will  soon  gather  the 
scattered  Baptists  in  this  region  into  the  field. 

I  could  only  travel  my  broken-down  horse  in  a  slow  walk,  and 
night  found  me  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  Mr.  Crump,  where  I 
W'as  kindly  entertained.  He  was  not  a  professor  of  religion,  but 
had  the  character  of  an  orderly,  excellent  man.  His  wife  was  a 
neat,  tidy  person,  and  the  mother  of  three  children. 

December  26th.  As  I  was  about  to  start  on  my  way  towards 
Franklin,  a  Baptist  by  name  of  Anderson  Woods  came  along,  and 
was  hailed  by  Mr.  Crump.  He  was  on  his  way  to  the  monthly 
meeting  of  Bethel  church,  at  the  house  of  Lazarus  Wilcox,  and 
finding  my  horse  was  no  better,  I  struck  into  the  trail,  and  in 
half  an  hour  we  were  at  the  place  of  meeting,  and  soon  surrounded 
by  the  members  of  the  church  and  others.  Brother  Woods  was 
not  then  in  the  ministry,  but  could  lead  a  meeting  in  prayer  and 
exhortation.  By  request,  I  preached  to  the  little  congregation 
before  church-meeting,  and  again  at  night  to  six  persons,  one  of 
whom  was  a  deaf  mute  from  his  birth.  He  was  singularly  intelli- 
gent for  one  of  that  unfortunate  class.  He  knew  what  we  were 
about  in  worshiping  God.  His  brother.  Deacon  Wilcox,  related  an 
incident  that  was  proof  of  his  knowledge  and  correct  views  of  the 
infinitely  Holy  God.  He  had  o^<;asion  to  correct  his  little  son  for 
telling  a  lie. 

The  deaf  mute  was  much  attached  to  the  child,  and  when  the 
father  had  corrected  and  given  him  a  serious  talk,  the  mute  got  an 
old  book  in  the  house,  with  divers  religious  emblems  for  a  frontis- 
piece. One  of  these  was  the  figure  of  a  large  human  eye  in  one 
of  the  upper  corners.  The  deaf  mute  placed  the  boy  between  his 
knees,  and  while  the  tears  of  sympathy  and  sorrow  rolled  down  his 
cheeks,  he  pointed  to  the  emblem  of  the  All-seeing  Eye,  raised  it 
upward  and  then  to  the  boy  as  though  he  would  pierce  him.  This 
was  the  most  impressive  way  he  could  say :  "  The  eye  of  God  is 
on  you,  looks  into  your  heart,  and  will  punish  you  for  lying." 
This  was  done  several  times.  This  man,  as  I  learned  at  a  sub- 
12 


134  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

sequent  period,  told  his  experience  to  the  church  by  signs ;  hia 
brother,  being  interpreter,  was  baptized  and  hved  a  Christian  life. 

Bethel  church  was  situated  on  the  vraters  of  the  Moniteau, 
twenty  miles  east  of  Old  Franklin.  It  was  organized  June  27th, 
1817,  by  the  ministry  of  Elders  David  McLain  and  AVm.  Thorp, 

On  Lord's-day,  the  27th,  the  weather  was  pleasant,  the  sun  shone 
bright,  and  all  nature  appeared  gay  and  cheerful.  The  people  report 
the  season  as  unusually  mild  and  pleasant. 

I  preached  from  1  Pet.  iii.  18.  The  house  contained  two  rooms, 
and  was  crowded  with  people,  who  gave  respectful  attention.  The 
settlers  in  this  region,  in  general,  appear  to  be  a  respectable  class 
of  citizens,  tolerably  well-informed,  and  enjoy  gospel  privileges  to 
a  greater  extent  than  in  most  parts  of  the  territory. 

On  Monday,  I  rode  through  the  country  to  Franklin,  found  a 
Baptist  family  by  name  of  "Wiseman,  v.here  I  had  been  directed  to 
call.  A  hasty  appointment  was  circulated,  and  I  preached  to  a 
roomful  of  people. 

Franklin  is  a  village  of  seventy  families.  It  is  situated  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Missouri,  and  on  the  border  of  an  extensive  tract 
of  rich,  alluvial  bottom  land,  covered  with  a  heavy  forest,  except 
where  the  axe  and  fires  had  destroyed  the  undergrowth,  "  dead 
ened"  the  timber  and  prepared  the  fields  for  the  largest  crops  of 
corn. 

■"  If  any  one  wishes  to  find  the  site  of  this  flourishing  town,  as  it 
then  appeared  to  promise,  he  must  examine  the  bed  of  the  river 
directly  opposite  Booneville.  Eepeated  floods,  many  years  since, 
drove  the  inhabitants  to  the  bluff,  with  such  of  their  houses  as 
could  be  removed,  where  New  Franklin,  not  a  very  thriving  place, 
now  stands.  At  the  period  of  our  visit,  no  town  west  of  St.  Louis 
gave  better  promise  for  rapid  grov/th  than  Franklin.  There  was 
no  church  formed  in  the  village,  but  I  found  fourteen  Baptists 
there. 

The  country  on  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri  above  the  Cedar, 
a  small  stream  on  the  western  border  of  the  present  county  of 
Callaway,  was  known  as  Boone's  Lick  from  an  early  period.  Also 
under  the  same  cognomen  was  the  country  designated  on  the  south 
side  and  west  of  the  Osage  river.  The  particular  salt-hck  to  which 
this  appellation  was  first  given  was  ten  or  twelve  miles  above  old 
Franklin  and  about  tv/omiles  back  from  the  river.  Tradition  told  that 
this  spot,  in  a  secluded  place  among  the  bluffs,  was  occupied  by  the 
old  pioneer,  the  veritable  Daniel  Boone,  for  his  hunting-camp.  But 
the  name  came  from  the  late  ^lajor  Nathan  Boone,  who  in  CQmpan\ 


BOONE'S    LICK — INDIAN    MASSACRES.  135 

with  the  Messrs.  ^Morrisons  of  St.  Charles,  manufactured  salt  at  the 
spring-  in  1806-7.  About  the  same  time  a  settlement  was  made  on 
the  Loutre  and  on  Loutre  Island.  This  settlement,  except  Cote 
Sans  Dessein,  was  the  veritable  "  Far  West"  until  1810. 

During  the  spring  of  1810  several  famihes  from  Loutre  settle- 
ment, and  a  large  number,  then  recently  from  Kentucky,  moved 
westward  and  planted  themselves  in  the  Boone's  Lick  country,  then 
reported  as  the  el  dorado  of  all  new  countries.  Off  from  the  river 
bottoms  the  land  was  undulating,  the  prairies  small,  the  soil  rich, 
and  the  timber  in  variety  and  of  a  fine  quality.  Deer,  bears,  elk, 
and  other  game  were  in  abnnoance,  and  furnished  provisions,  and, 
in  many  instances,  clothing,  until  the  people  could  raise  crops. 

There  were  in  all  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  families  that  came 
into  the  Boone's  Lick  country  in  1810-11,  when  the  Indian  war 
stopped  further  immigration  till  1815  or  1816.  Twelve  families 
settled  on  the  soutlci  side  of  the  river,  not  far  from  the  present  site 
of  Booneville,  and  several  more  formed  a  settlement  south  of  the 
Missouri,  some  ten  or  fifteen  miles  above  Old  Franklin. 

Amongst  the  emigrants,  both  from  Loutre  and  Kentucky,  were 
not  a  few  Baptist  families  and  two  or  three  preachers.  A  church 
had  been  organized  in  the  Loutre  settlement,  a  majority  of  which, 
with  their  church  records,  were  among  the  emigrants,  and  became 
reorganized,  and  I  think  took  the  name  of  Mount  Zion. 

Soon  the  hostile  Indians  broke  into  these  remote  frontier  settle- 
ments. It  was  in  July,  1810,  that  a  hostile  band  of  Pottawatomies 
came  stealthily  into  the  settlement  on  the  Loutre,  nearly  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Gasconade  river,  and  stole  a  number  of  horses. 
A  volunteer  company  was  raised,  consisting  of  Stephen  Cole,  Will 
liam  T.  Cole,  Messrs.  Brown,  G  ooch,  Patton,  and  one  other  person,  to 
follow  them.  They  followed  the  trail  across  Grand  Prairie  to  Bone 
Lick,  a  branch  of  Salt  river,  where  they  discovered  eight  Indians 
who  threw  off  their  packs  of  plunder,  and  scattered  in  the  woods. 
Night  coming  on,  the  party  disregarded  the  advice  of.  their  leader, 
Stephen  Cole,  an  experienced  man  with  Indians.  He  advised  set- 
ting a  guard,  but  the  majority  exclaimed  against  it,  and  cried 
"  cowardice."  About  midnight  the  Indian  yell  and  the  death-deal- 
ing bullet  aroused  them  from  sleep.  Stephen  Cole  had  taken  his 
station  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  and  if  he  slept,  it  was  with  one  eye 
open.  He  killed  four  Indians,  and  wounded  the  fifth,  though  se- 
verely wounded  himself.  WiUiam  T.  Cole,  his  brother,  was  killed 
at  the  commencement  of  the  fight,  with  two  other  persons.  Next 
morning  the  survivors  reached  the  settlement  and  told  the  dread- 


136  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

fill  tidings,  and  a  party  returned  to  the  spot,  buried  the  dead,  but 
found  the  Indians  gone. 

This  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  depredations,  murders,  and  rob- 
beries in  these  remote  settlements  tliat  continued  five  years.  The 
district  of  St:  Charles  had  the  Cedar  for  its  western  boundary.  The 
Boone's  Lick  country  was  not  recognized  as  within  the  organized 
territory  of  Missouri.  The  people  were  ''  a  law  unto  themselves," 
and  had  to  do  their  own  fighting.  Every  male  inhabitant  of  the 
settlement,  who  w^as  capable  of  bearing  arms,  enrolled  and  equipped 
himself  for  defense.  Each  one  pledged  himself  to  fight,  to  labor 
on  the  forts,  to  go  on  scouting-expeditions,  or  to  raise  corn  for  the 
community,  as  danger  or  necessity  required.  By  the  common  con- 
sent of  all  these  volunteer  parties,  Colonel  Benjamin  Cooper,  a 
Baptist  from  Madison  county,  Ky.,  was  chosen  commander-in-chief. 

Colonel  Copper  was  one  of  Kentucky's  noblest  pioneers.  He 
had  also  been  a  prominent  man  in  the  wars  with  Indians  in  that 
district,  possessed  real  courage,  cool  and  deliberate,  with  great  skill 
and  sagacity  in  judgment.  He  had  also  been  an  efficient  man  in 
the  affairs  of  civil  and  political  life,  and  a  man  of  firmness  and 
correctness  as  a  member  of  the  church. 

Among  the  principal  officers  who  occupied  subaltern  positions 
as  the  commanders' of  forts  and  partisan  leaders  for  detached  field- 
service  were  Captain  Sarshall  Cooper  (a  brother  of  the  Colonel), 
William  Head  and  Stephen  Cole. 

To  guard  against  surprise,  the  people,  under  the  direction  of  their 
leader,  erected  five  stockade  forts  : 

1.  Cooper's  fort  was  at  the  residence  of  the  Colonel,  on  a  bottom- 
prairie. 

2.  IIcLcmVs/ort  (called  Fort  Hempstead  afterward)  was  on  the 
bluff,  about  one  mile  from  New  Franklin.  ^ 

3.  KincaicVs  fort  was  near  the  river,  and  about  one  and  a  half 
miles  above  the  site  of  Old  Franklin. 

4.  Head's  fort  was  on  the  Moniteau,  near  the  old  Boone's  Lick 
trace  from  St.  Charles. 

5.  Cole's  fort  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  Missouri,  about  a  mile 
below  Booneville.  Here  the  widow  of  ^Y. T.Cole,  who  was  slain 
by  the  Indians  on  Boone's  Lick,  with  her  children,  settled  soon  after 
the  murder  of  her  husband. 

These  forts  were  a  refuge  to  the  families  when  dangers  threat- 
ened, but  the  defenders  of  the  country  did  not  reside  in  them  only 
as  threatened  danger  required.  Scouting-parties  were  almost  con  ■ 
staiitly  engaged  scouring  the  woods  in  the  rear  of  the  settlements 


STOCKADE  FORTS — PERILS  OF  PIONEERS.        137 

watching  for  Indian  signs,  and  protecting  their  stock  from  depre 
dations. 

With  all  their  vigilance  during  the  war,  about  three  hundred 
horses  were  stolen ;  many  cattle  and  nearly  all  their  hogs  were 
killed.  Bear-meat  and  raccoon-bacon  became  a  substitute,  and 
even  were  engaged  in  contracts  for  trade.  They  cultivated  the 
fields  nearest  to  the  stockade-forts,  which  could  be  cultivated  in 
corn  with  comparative  security',  but  not  enough  to  supply  the 
amount  necessary  for  consumption. 

Parties  were  detailed  to  cultivate  fields  more  distant.  These 
were  divided  into  plowmen  and  sentinels.  The  one  party  followed 
the  plows,  and  the  other,  with  rifles  loaded  and  ready,  scouted 
around  the  field  on  every  side,  stealthily  watching  lest  the  wily  foe 
should  form  an  ambuscade.  Often  the  plowman  walked  over  the 
field,  guiding  his  horses  and  pulverizing  the  earth,  with  his  loaded 
rifle  slung  at  his  back. 

With  all  these  precautions,  few  men  but  would  tread  stealthily 
along  the  furrows.  As  he  approached  the  end  of  the  corn-rows,  where 
the  adjacent  woodland  might  conceal  an  enemy,  his' anxiety  was  at 
its  height.  When  these  detachments  were  in  the  cornfield,  if  the 
enemy  threatened  the  fort,  the  sound  of  the  horn  gave  the  alarm, 
and  all  rushed  to  the  rescue. 

It  was  in  the  autumnal  season  of  corn-gathering,  that  a  party  of 
these  farming  soldiers  were  hard  pressed  by  a  party  of  savages.  A 
negro  servant  drove  the  team  with  a  load  of  corn.  He  knew  nothing 
of  chariot  races  among  the  ancients,  but  he  put  the  lash  on  the 
horses,  and  drove  through  the  large  double-gateway  without  touch- 
ing either  post,  as  had  been  too  often  his  unlucky  habit.  The 
Indians  were  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  clearing,  saw  their  prey 
had  escaped,  raised  thdr  accustomed  yell,  and  disappeared  in  the 
woods.  "Oh,  Sam,"  said  the  Captain,  whose  servant  he  was, 
'*  ^-^ou've  saved  your  scalp  this  time  by  accurate  and  energetic 
driving!" 

"Yes,  Massa,  I  tink  so,"  at  the  same  time  scratching  his  wool  as 
if  he  would  make  doubly  sure  that  the  useful  appendage  was  not 
missing.  "  I)e  way  I  done  miss  dose  gate-posts  was  no  red  man's 
business.  I  never  drove  trew  afore  without  I  hit  one  side,  and 
sometimes  bose  of  dem." 

These  pioneer  Boone's  Lick  settlers  deserve  to  be  known  and 
had  in  remembrance  by  the  present  generation  in  that  populous 
and  rich  district  of  the  State.  I  regret  exceedingly,  now  it  is  too  late, 
that  I  did  not  gather  many  mere  facts,  and  record  the  names  of  th( 


188  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK. 

principal  families.  Thc^'  suffered  as  many  privations  as  any  frontier 
settlement  in  western  history.  The  men  were  all  heroes  and  the 
women  heroines,  and  successfully  and  skilfully  defended  their  fami- 
lies and  the  country  about  three  years  without  the  least  aid  from 
the  national  or  territorial  government.  Throughout  the  war  but 
ten  persons  were  killed  by  Indians  in  all  the  settlements  about 
Boone's  Lick.  Several  other  persons  besides  those  already  men- 
tioned were  killed  in  the  Loutre  settlements  and  below. 

Those  killed  in  the  Boone's  Lick  country  were  Sarshall  Cooper, 
Jonathan  Todd,  William  Campbell,  Thomas  Smith,  Samuel  McMa- 
han,  William  Gregg-,  John  Smith,  James  Busby,  Joseph  W.  Still, 
and  a  negro  man.  Captain  Sarshall  Cooper  came  to  his  tragic  end 
at  Cooper's  fort,  where  his  family  resided.  It  was  a  dark  night; 
the  w^ind  howled  through  the  forest,  and  the  rain  fell  in  fitful  gusts, 
and  the  watchful  sentinel  could  not  discern  an  object  six  feet  from 
the  stockade.  Captain  Cooper's  residence  formed  one  of  the  angles 
of  the  fort.  He  had  previously  run  up  a  long  account  with  the 
red-skins.  They  dreaded  both  his  strategy  and  his  prowess  in 
Indian  warfare.  A  single  brave  crept  stealthily  in  the  darkness 
and  storm  to  the  logs  of  the  cabin,  and  made  an  opening  in  the 
clay  between  the  logs  barely  sufficient  to  admit  the  muzzle  of  his 
gun,  which  he  discharged  with  fatal  efiTect.  The  assassin  escaped 
and  left  the  famil^r  and  every  settler  in  mourning.  Among  a  large 
circle  of  relatives  and  friends,  the  impressions  of  their  loss  were 
vivid  at  the  period  of  our  first  visit. 

After  nearly  three  years  of  hard  fighting  and  severe  suffer- 
(ng,  Congress  made  provision  for  raising  several  companies  of 
'rangers"  —  men  who  furnished  their  own  horses,  equipments, 
forage  and  provisions,  and  received  one  dollar  per  day  for  guarding 
the  frontier  settlements — when  a  detachment  was  sent  to  the  relief 
of  the  people  of  Boone's  Lick,  under  command  of  General  Henry 
S.  Dodge,  then  major  of  the  battalion.  The  mounted  rangers  in- 
cluded the  companies  of  Captain  John  Thompson  of  St.  Louis, 
Captain  Daugherty  of  Cape  Girardeau,  and  Captain  Cooper  of  the 
Boone's  Lick.  An  expedition  under  command  of  Captain  Edward 
Hempstead  v,'as  sent  in  boats  up  the  Missouri.  In  the  companies 
were  fifty  Delawares  and  Shawnees,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
Americans.  On  the  south  bank  of  the  Missouri,  at  a  place  now 
known  as  Miami,  was  an  Indian  town  of  four  hundred,  including 
women  and  children,  who  had  migrated  from  the  Wabash  country 
a  few  years  previous.     They  were  friendly  and  peaceable  ;  but  bad 


CAPTAIN   CALLAWAY — LUKE   WILLIAMS.  139 

Indians  would  report  bad  tales  of  them,  and  Major  Dodge,  under 
instructions,  guarded  them  back  to  the  Wabash  country. 

One  more  disastrous  event,  though  it  occurred  in  the  Loutre, 
deserves  a  brief  record. .  Early  in  the  season  of  1814,  the  Sauks 
and  Pottawatomies  stole  horses  in  the  neighborhood  of  Loutre 
island.  Fifteen  or  twenty  rangers,  commanded  by  Captain  James 
Callaway,  being  out  on  a  tour  of  observation,  accidentally  fell  on 
their  trail,  and  followed  it.  They  came  on  the  Indians  in  their 
camp  near  the  head  of  Loutre  creek,  found  the  horses,  but  the 
Indians  seemingly  had  fled.  They  retook  the  horses,  and  proceeded 
toward  the  settlement  until  they  reached  Prairie  Fork.  Here  the 
captain,  desirous  of  relieving  the  men  who  had  charge  of  the  horses 
in  the  rear,  gave  the  command  to  Lieutenant  Riggs,  who  went  on 
with  the  main  party.  In  a  short  time  Captain  Callaway  and  the 
men  who  had  charge  of  the  horses  were  fired  on  l)y  a  large  party 
of  Indians  who  lay  in  ambuscade,  and  he  was  severely  wounded. 
He  broke  the  hne  of  the  Indians,  while  men  and  horses  fled  ;  rode 
towards  the  main  Loutre,  where  he  was  again  intercepted  by  the 
savage  enemy,  and,  being  mortally  wounded,  fell  from  his  horse 
as  he  attempted  to  swim  the  stream  and  expired.  Four  rangers 
of  his  party,  McDermot,  Hutchinson,  McMillan  and  Gillmore,  were 
killed. 

Captain  Callaway  was  the  son  of  Flanders  Callaway,  and  grand- 
son of  Daniel  Boone.  He  was  respected  and  lamented  by  all  who 
knew  him'.     The  county  of  Callaway  bears  his  name  to  posterity. 

On  my  first  visit  to  the  Boone's  Lick  settlements,  January,  1819, 
there  were  five  preachers  and  five  churches  on  the  Baptist  platform. 
Concord,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  had  its  origin  in  the  party  from 
Loutre,  already  noticed;  and  if  so,  it  ranks  first  in  the  order  of 
time.  This  church  was  in  what  is  now  Cooper  county  in  the  set- 
tlement south  of  Booneville.  It  gave  name  to  the  Concord  Asso- 
ciation, the  history  of  which  will  be  noticed  in  due  time. 

From  this  church,  about  the  time  or  soon  after  my  first  visit  to 
this  part  of  Missouri,  a  preacher  was  raised  up,  and  for  a  few  years 
was  remarkably  successful  in  the  conversion  of  sinners  and  estab- 
lishing churches.  His  name  was  Luke  Williams.  It  appears  on 
the  minutes  of  Mount  Pleasant  Association  as  a  licentiate  in  1820. 
He  settled  on  a  quarter  section  of  public  land,  which  he  could  hold 
by  pre-emption  for  a  limited  period  ;  for  he  had  no  money  to  buy 
land,  and  no  means  of  getting  any  unless  he  should  quit  the  min 
istry  and  engage  in  secular  business,  as  some  of  his  brethren  did 
He  was  one  of  the  most  self-sacrificing  itinerants  in  those  days  1 


140  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

ever  knew.  His  zeal  and  Christian  enterprise  prompted  him  to 
ride  and  preach  fhrongh  all  the  settlements  to  the  extreme  western 
^frontiers.  No  missionary  society  aided  him ;  no  churches — even 
those  raised  up  under  his  ministry,  and  who  claimed  a  share  of  his 
time  and  talents— gave  him  a  dollar.  He  had  put  up  a  cabin,  made 
a  "truck-patch,"  and  a  cornfield,  before  he  engaged  in  the  ministry. 
He  stayed  at  home  only  long  enough  to  cultivate,  with  the  aid  of 
his  industrious  wife  and  little  children,  a  crop  of  corn.  •  The  calls 
on  him  to  preach  to  the  destitute  churches  were  numerous  and 
pressing,  but  the  members,  not  excepting  the  deacons,  were  too 
intent  on  saving  every  dollar  they  could  get  to  buy  land  when  it 
came  into  the  market.  Then  a  large  majority  of  the  Baptists  that 
came  into  the  early  settlements  of  Boone's  Lick  had  strong  preju- 
dices, as  unreasonable  as  they  were  unscriptural,  against  giving 
any  compensation  to  ministers.  They  made  the  egregious  blunder 
that  because  the  gospel  was  "  without  money  and  without  price," 
therefore  they  might  take  the  time  and  the  talents  of  a  minister 
of  Christ  for  their  owp  use,  and  rob  him  of  the  means  of  support 
due  to  his  family.  Luke  WilHams  gave  away  many  hundred  dollars 
in  his  time  and  talents  for  the  personal  benefit  of  those  who  were 
too  ignorant,  too  full  of  prejudice,  or  too  avaricious  to  do  justice  to 
one  of  Christ's  laborious  and  self-sacrificing  servants.  Yet  God  was 
with  him,  and  scores  of  sinners  were  converted  under  his  ministry. 
Hc^  died  after  a  short  but  severe  illness,  early  in  September,  1824; 
leaving  his  land  without  a  title,  and  his  wife  and  little  ones  without 
a  shelter  they  could  call  their  own.  An  attempt  was  made  after 
his  decease,  at  the  Fishing  Kiver  Association,  to  raise  a  fund  to 
enable  the  widow  to  enter  the  land  for  the  children ;  but  I  am  under 
the  impression  that  for  want  of  promptitude,  and  taking  "  pledges" 
and  "  promises"  instead  of  dollars,  the  efi*ort  proved  abortive. 

Elder  J.  Huhhard,  who  was  an  old  man  and  had  been  long  in  the 
ministry,  was  a  resident  and  a  preacher  in  Howard  county  on  my 
first  visit.  He  possessed  a  strong  mind,  and  had  received  a  better 
education  in  early  life  than  his  brethren  in  the  ministry.  He  wasi 
clear-headed,  Calvinistic  in  doctrine,  and  yet  free  from  the  blunders 
of  those  who  could  not  reconcile  the  duty  of  sinners  to  repent  and 
beheve  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  the  sovereignty  of  God  in 
the  dispensation  of  his  grace.  I  found  no  preacher  in  Missouri, 
and  few  anywhere  else,  who  had  such  full  and  correct  knowledge  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  as  Elder  Hubbard  possessed.  Yet  he  was 
modest  and  unassuming,  without  the  least  dogmatism  in  giving  his 
views  when  solicited.     He  was  quite  deaf,  and  could  enjoy  con- 


DAVID    M'LAIN — INDIAN    FIGnT.  141 

versation  only  'ulien  his  brethren  spoke  in  a  distinct  tone  of 
voice. 

Elder  Edward  Turner  was  from  Kentucky,  and  came  to  Howarcjj 
county  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  a  man  of  moderate 
abilities,  and  of  correct  deportment  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel. 
His  name  appears  on  the  minutes  of  Mount  Pleasant  Association 
of  1820. 

Elder  Colden  Williams  was  another  of  the  early  Baptist  minis- 
ters in  the  Boone's  Lick  settlements.  He  came  there  from  Cape 
Girardeau  county,  where  he  had  been  pastor  of  Bethel  church. 
He  possessed  a  strong  discriminating  mind,  loved  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  and  was  faithful  in  his  calling.  His  membership  was  in 
Mount  Zion  church,  where  he  furnished  the  monthly  supply.  I 
trace  his  name  on  the  minutes  of  the  association  as  a  messenger 
from  that  church  till  1830,  when  it  disappears.  He  was  much  re- 
spected as  a  minister,  and  probably  was  called  home  about  that 
time. 

The  only  one  that  remains  to  be  noticed  is  Elder  David  McLain. 
He  was  the  first  Baptist  minister  that  came  from  central  Kentucky 
to  the  Boone's  Lick  country  with  the  first  colony  in  1810.  Early 
in  March,  1813,  he  started  on  horseback  to  Kentucky  in  company 
with  a  man  by  name  of  Young.  They  traveled  without  molestation 
till  they  reached  HilKs  ferry  on  the  Kaskaskia  river,  old  trace  from 
St.  Louis  to  Yincennes,  Carlyle,  the  seat  of  justice  of  Clinton  county, 
111.  Three  families  that  resided  here,  being  alarmed  by  Indian 
signs,  had  left  the  ferry  for  one  of  the  settlements  in  St.  Clair 
county.  The  ferry-boat  being  fastened  to  the  west  bank,  the  two 
travelers  crossed  with  their  horses,  and  had  not  proceeded  more 
than  half  a  mile  before  they  were  fired  on  by  Indians.  Mr.  Young 
was  shot,  and  fell  from  his  horse.  Mr.  McLain's  horse  was  shot 
through  the  body,  and  fell ;  but  the  rider  extricated  himself,  threw 
his  saddle-bags  into  the  bush,  and  ran  for  his  Hfe  with  several  In- 
dians in  chase.  Soon  after,  all  the  Indians  fell  back  but  one  stout,- 
i^athletic  fellow,  that  seemed  determined  not  to  lose  his  prey.  Elder 
McLain  was  encumbered  with  a  thick  overcoat,  with  wrappers  on 
his  legs,  and  boots  and  spurs  on  his  feet.  The  Indian  fired  and 
missed  him,  which  gave  him  the  chance  to  throw  off  his  overcoat, 
in  hopes  the  prize  would  attract  the  attention  of  his  pursuer.  The 
other  Indians  having  fallen  back,  Mr.  McLain  made  signs  of  sur- 
render as  this  one  approached  him,  having  loaded  his  gun.  In  this 
way  he  deceived  his  foe  till  he  got  within  a  few  feet,  when  he  as- 
sumed an  attitude  of  defiance,  watched  his  motions,  and,  at  the 


142  MEMOIR    OF    JOPIN    M.    PECK. 

instant  he  fired,  dodged  the  ball,  and  then,  with  all  the  energy  he 
could  command,  ran  for  his  hfe.  The  contest  continued  more  than 
one  hour,  during  which  his  foe  fired  at  him  seven  times.  In  one 
instance  as  he  threw  his  breast  forw^ard,  unfortunately  he  threw 
his  elbow  back  and  received  the  ball  in  his  arm.  During  the  chase 
he  contrived  to  throw  of  his  boots  and  spurs.  They  had  run  three 
or  four  miles  in  the  timbered  bottom  down  the  river,  and  at  a  bend 
came  near  the  bank.  Elder  McLain  found  himself  nearly  exhausted, 
and  it  seemed  to  him  his  last  chance  of  escape  was  to  swim  the 
river.  He  plunged  in,  making  the  utmost  effort  of  his  remaining 
strength,  and  yet  he  had  to  keep  an  eye  constantly  fixed  on  his 
Av'ily  foe,  who  had  loaded  his  gun  for  the  eighth  time,  and  from  the 
bank  brought  it  to  a  poise,  and  fired  a  second  of  time  after  McLain 
dove  in  deep  w^ater.  By  swimming  diagonally  down  the  stream  he 
had  gained  on  his  pursuer,  who,  with  the  savage  yell  peculiar  on 
such  occasions,  gave  up  the  chase  and  returned  to  his  band.  Doubt 
less  his  report  to  the  braves  was  that  he  had  followed  a  "  great- 
medicine,"  v.ho  was  so  charmed  that  his  musket  balls  could  not 
hurt  him. 

On  reaching  the  shore,  Mr.  McLain  was  so  exhausted  that  it  was 
with  the  utmost  difficulty  he  could  crawl  up  the  bank;  for  he  was 
in  a  profuse  perspiration  when  he  plunged  into  the  cold  water.  He 
was  wet,  chilled  through,  badly  wounded,  and  could  not  stand  until 
he  had  rolled  himself  on  the  ground,  and  rubbed  his  Umbs  to  bring 
the  blood  into  circulation.  It  was  thirty-five  miles  to  the  Badgley 
settlement,  where  Elder  Daniel  Badgley  and  several  Baptist  fami- 
hes  lived,  which  Mr.  McLain,  after  incredible  efforf  and  sufferings, 
reached  the  next  morning.  There,  with  his  wounded  arm,  and  a 
burning  fever,  he  lay  several  weeks,  till  some  of  his  friends  came 
from  the  Boone's  Lick  settlements,  and  took  him  to  his  family,  A 
party  of  volunteers  went  over  the  Kaskaskia  river,  buried  Mr.Young, 
found  McLain's  saddle-bags,  with  the  contents  safe,  but  saw  no 
Indians. 

I  will  now  resume  my  journal,  commencing  January  1st,  1819,-^ 
on  which  I  left  Franklin,  and  rode  twenty-five  miles  a  northwestern 
rourse  to  Chariton,  where  I  called  on  and  received  a  cordial  welcome 
from  General  Duflf  Green  and  his  family.  It  may  now  amuse  the 
inhabitants  on  my  route  to  read  my  remarks  and  speculations  about 
the  new  country  in  which  I  traveled  for  a  month  : 

"  The  country  over  which  I  rode  is  natural!}'-  rich  and  fertile  and 
rapidly  setthng.  This  part  of  the  territory  will  soon  become  the 
garden  of  Missouri.     The  surface  of  the  land  over  which  for  a  few 


OilARlTUN — FIRST    SLNDAY-SCHOOL.  143 

miles  I  traveled  before  I  reached  this  new  town  is  rough  and  broken, 
but  will  probably  become  valuable. 

"  Chariton,  containing  about  thirty  families,  has  been  laid  off  on 
a  stream  of  the  same  name.  In  the  wdnter  of  1816-17,  it  was  the 
wintering-ground  of  a  tribe  of  Indians.  The  following  summer, 
three  or  four  log-cabins  were  erected.  Within  a  year  the  increase 
has  been  rapid,  and,  in  view  of  trade  and  business,  it  is  thought 
to  be  superior  to  any  situation  on  the  Missouri  river.  The  Chariton 
consists  of  three  principal  streams  or  branches  that  take  their  rise 
in  the  great  prairies  far  in  the  north,  each  of  which  when  not  un- 
usually low  is  navigable  for  keel-boats.  These  branches  unite  their 
waters  in  one  noble  channel  as  they  approach  the  town,  forming  a 
stream  navigable  for  steamboats,  and  a  safe  harbor  at  all  seasons. 

"  This  stream  forms  a  beautiful  semi-circle,  in  the  bend  of  which 
lies  the  town  site,  the  lower  end  of  the  circle  touching  on  the  Mis- 
souri. On  the  east  side  of  the  town-plat  lies  a  range  of  hills  oi 
bluffs,  giving  a  romantic  and  variegated  appearance.  Some,  like 
pyramids,  rise  abruptly  into  the  air,  and  from  their  summits  show 
one  of  the  most  delightful  prospects  in  nature.  Ascending  one  of 
these  bluffs,  which  rose  majestically  from  the  town  site,  I  had  ai 
extensive  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  To  the  west  and  north 
west  the  prospect  is  almost  boundless." 

On  the  Sabbath  (January  3d),  though  in  constant  pain  from  c 
sw^ollen  and  inflamed  face,  I  preached  at  tweh^  o'clock  and  again 
at  night. 

There  are  several  very  respectable  and  intelligent  families  in  this 
town,  and  several  unquestionably  pious.  At  night  I  called  the  at- 
tention of  the  ladies  to  the  formation  of  a  "Female  Mite  Society," 
to  aid  the  "United  Society  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,"  in  sus- 
taining some  of  our  preachers  in  traveling  and  preaching  in  des- 
titute settlements.  This  "  Mite  Society"  was  organized  the  follow- 
ing week,  of  twenty-two  members,  who  subscribed  thirty-six  dollars. 
The  officiating  persons  chosen  w^ere  Mrs.  Lucretia  M.  Green,  Presi- 
*tlent;  Mrs.  Henrietta  C.  D.  Finlay,  Secretary;  Mrs.  Polly  Allen, 
Treasurer ;  and  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  Campbell  and  Miss  Ann  Green, 
Assistant  Directors.  In  the  following  spring,  the  first  Sabbath- 
school  west  of  St.  Louis  w^as  commenced  in  Chariton.  It  became 
auxiliary  to  the  "Philadelphia  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union," 
which  was  the  progenitor  of  the  American  Sunday  School  Union. 
About  this  period  the  Baptist  missionaries  held  some  correspond- 
ence and  had  some  thoughts  of  making  Chariton  a  station  for  the 
•'"Western  Mission." 


144  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

On  the  7th  of  January,  I  rode  to  Franklin  and  preached  at  night 
to  a  few  persons.  Next  night  I  preached  in  Booneville,  where  the 
people  gave  good  attention.  On  returning  across-  the  river  next 
day,  I  found  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Patterson  in  town.  Mr.  P.  was  an 
itinerant  missionary  from  Philadelphia,  and  sent  to  the  Far  West 
by  the  Board  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
I  had  seen  and  formed  an  acquaintance  with  him  the  preceding 
summer  at  St.  Louis.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  college,  N.  J., 
where  he  also  studied  theology ;  of  medium  talents  as  a  preacher, 
but  possessed  an  amiable  disposition,  great  simplicity  of  character, 
and  was  habitually  devotional.  We  traveled  in  company  through 
the  frontier  settlements,  visiting  every  log-cabin  we  could  find,  read 
ing  the  Scriptures,  conversing,  exhorting,  and  praying  with  every 
family.  When  opportunity  offered,  we  would  send  an  appointment 
ahead,  and  gather  in  a  congregation.  Our  principal  range  was 
south  of  the  Missouri  and  westward  to  the  farthest  settlements. 
Many  of  the  settlers  then  scattered  through  that  region  were  real 
frontier  squatters,  who  lived  in  single  log-cabins  of  the  most  infe- 
rior quality,  and  made  a  cornfield  of  half-a-dozen  acres,  and  a 
"  truck-patch,"  on  which  they  raised  cabbages,  turnips,  cucumbers, 
and  melons.  We  visited  families  who  had  not  heard  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel  for  twenty  years. 

I  give  a  description  of  one  family  we  visited,  not  a  dozen  miles 
above  Booneville,  as  a  specimen  of  many  others.  It  is  no  disparage- 
ment to  the  pioneer  settlers  that,  in  two  years  after  our  visitation, 
they  poured  into  the  country  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  other 
States  ;  bought  out  the  "  rights"  of  these  primitive  squatters ;  made 
farms  and  introduced  the  habits  of  industry  and  civilization.  The 
"  squatters"  we  saw  "  cleared  out"  for  the  frontiers  of  Arkansas,  or 
some  other  unsettled  region,  where  they  would  not  be  annoyed 
with  "improvements." 

The  oi)ly  appearance  of  roads  we  found  were  bridle-paths,  that 
pursued  a  zigzag  course  from  one  cabin  to  another.  Seeing  a  smoke 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  trail  we  were  pursuing,  we  found  a  cabin, 
about  twelve  feet  square,  made  of  such  rough  black  jackpoles,  as 
any  stout  man  could  lift,  with  a  sort  of  wooden  and  dirt  chimney. 
Very  httle  "  chinking  and  daubing"  interfered  with  the  passage  of 
the  wintry  winds  between  the  logs.  We  had  to  "  stoop  low,"  as 
Cotton  Mather  advised  Franklin  when  he  bumped  .his  head  against 
the  cross-beam,  to  get  in  at  the  doorway  The  floor  was  the  earth, 
and  filthy  in  the  extreme ;  and  the  lodging-places  of  the  inmates 
were  a  species  of  scaffolds  around  the  walls,  and  elevated  on  forks 


A   BACKWOODS    FAMILY.  145 

In  and  around  the  dirty  shelter  we  found  eight  human  beings, 
male  and  female,  and  the  youngest  nearly  full  size.  Soon  as  we 
entered,  the  youngsters  rushed  out  with  an  expression  that  proba- 
bly was  a  mixture  of  wonder  and  fear.  The  old  man  and  woman 
remained.  He  was  either  offended  by  having  his  domicile  invaded 
by  decent-looking  persons,  or  he  was  too  stupid  to  converse  much. 
She  wis  more  tractable,  and  answered  our  questions  as  though  she 
felt  some  interest  in  the  conversation.  His  shock-headed  appear- 
ance was  as  though  he  had  slept  alternately  on  a  heap  of  cockle- 
burs  and  ashes.  The  young  men  and  women  would  show  their 
dingy  faces  through  the  crevices  between  the  logs,  and  in  the  door- 
way. It  was  not  from  destitution  of  water  that  the  whole  family 
remained  unwashed,  for  a  fine  spring  burst  out  within  twenty  yards 
of  the  cabin.  Their  dress  was  an  object  that  attracted  my  atten- 
tion, while  my  colleague  made  the  effort  to  instruct  them  in  some 
of  the  primitive  truths  of  religion.  Not  a  particle  of  cloth  of  any 
kind  did  I  discover  about  their  bodies.  Men  and  women  were 
dressed  in  skins  that  once  the  wild  deer  claimed,  but  covered  and 
saturated  with  grease,  blood,  and  dirt.  We  gathered  the  following 
history,  chiefly  from  the  old  w-oman.  They  were  ''  raised  in  the 
States,"  which,  on  further  inquiry,  meant  North  CaroUna ;  there 
they  were  married,  and  one  or  two  children  were  born.  There 
slie  and  the  **  old  man"  joined  a  Baptist  church,  and  heard  preach- 
ing once  in  a  month.  Neither  had  beeii  to  school  in  early  hfe. 
They  soon  moved  "  beyond  the  settlements,"  and  had  continued  to 
move  as  the  "settlements"  came  near  them.  They  had  been  in 
Missouri  some  three  or  four  years,  and  supposed  they  would  have 
to  move  again  soon ;  for  they  heard  the  "  settlements"  were  getting 
into  the  Boone's  Lick  countr^?^,  and  the  land  was  to  be  sold. 

On  conversing  with  the  old  woman  about  an  experience  of  grace 
and  the  way  of  salvation  for  sinners,  through  Jesus  Christ,  she 
wept  and  said  :  "That's  jest  what  I  hearn  the  preachers  say  afore 
we  left  Carolina."  She  could  read  a  little,  but  had  neither  Bible^ 
Testament,  or  hymn-book.  She  "  wanted  a  %me-book  mightily," 
and  we  gave  her  a  small  one,  and  also  a  Testament. 

We  read  a  chapter,  gave  some  familiar  explanations,  and  prayed 
with  them ;  but  all  we  could  &ay,  aided  by  the  persuasions  of  the 
mother,  we  could  not  get  one  of  the  young  folks  into  the  cabin. 
She  said  "  they  had  never  heard  a  human  pray  in  all  their  born- 
days." 

One  of  the  most  striking  contrasts  in  the  character  and  habits 
of  those  we  visited  was  in  family  government.  Many  of  the  fami- 
13 


146  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

lies  we  called  on,  like  the  one  described,  were  not  only  wretchedly 
ignorant  and  filthy,  but  wholly  destitute  of  skill  in  family  govern- 
ment. Children  were  left  to  act  out  their  vicious  propensities, 
without  the  least  effort  on  the  part  of  the  parents  to  assuage  and 
restrain  their  ungovernable  passions.  Some  parents  do  not  train 
their  children,  from  early  boyhood  to  the  period  of  manhood,  to 
habits  of  self-government.  What  helpless  wretches,  and  how  unfit 
for  social  life,  are  those  young  men  who  have  no  government  over 
themselves ;  and  in  nine  instances  out  of  ten  the  blame,  guilt  and 
crime  may  be  justly  charged  to  father  or  mother,  or  both. 

Captain  Stephen  Cole  survived  the  war,  after  making  every  effort 
for  the  defence  of  the  settlements,  and  being  wounded  several  times. 
After  living  through  and  enduring  all  the  hardships  and  privations 
in  settling  and  holding  the  country  ;  just  as  the  period  of  prosperity 
came,  and  lands  and  other  property  increased  in  value,  and  invited 
repose  and  contentment;  in  1822  his  love  of  adventure  induced 
him  to  become  a  pioneer  in  the  trade  to  Santa  Fe,  from  which  he 
never  returned.     He  was  killed  by  the  red-skins  on  the  plains  ! 

Colonel  Benjamin  Cooper  attained  to  a  green  old  age.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  territorial  council,  and  much  respected  and  beloved 
by  all  classes. 

Mount  Zion  church,  situated  in  the  interior  of  Howard  county, 
was  one  of  the  oldest,  and  my  impression  is  that  it  was  formed  by 
emigrants  before  the  war.  No  real  progress  was  made  in  church 
affairs  during  the  period  of  the  war  from  1810  to  1815.  Church- 
meetings  and  preaching  were  very  irregular.  The  loss  of  about 
three  hundred  horses  that  were  stolen  by  the  Indians,  and  a  large 
portion  of  the  cattle  and  swine  killed,  and  no  opportunity-  to  pro- 
Yide  a  surplus  of  corn;  the  old  settlers  fared  hard  and  had  to  be 
very  industrious.  Then  the  "  new-comers,"  like  a  mountain  torrent, 
poured  into  the  country  faster  than  it  was  possible  to  provide  corn 
for  breadstuff.  Some  families  came  in  the  spring  of  1815  ;  but  in 
the  winter,  spring,  summer,  and  autumn  of  1816,  they  came  like 
an  avalanche.  It  seemed  as  though  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were 
breaking  up  and  moving  to  the  "  Far  West."  Caravan  after  caravan 
passed  over  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  crossing  the  "great  river"  at 
St.  Louis,  all  bound  to  the  Boone's  Lick.  The  stream  of  immigra- 
tion had  not  lessened  in  18X7.  Many  families  came  from  Virginia, 
the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  and  not  a  few  from  the  Middle  States, 
while  a  sprinkling  found  their  way  to  the  extreme  west  from 
Yankeedom  and  Yorkdom.  Amongst  these  was  the  writer  and  his 
family  in  1817. 


LAND    SPECULATION.  14T 

Following  in  the  wake  of  tliis  exodus  to  the  middle  section  of 
Missouri  w^as  a  terrific  excitement  about  getting  land.  It  had  at^ 
tained  the  climax  on  my  first  visit.  A  delegate  in  Congress  from 
the  Territory  of  Missouri,  by  one  of  those  political  frauds  common 
to  political  manoeuvering,  obtained  the  passage  of  an  act  for  the 
relief  of  the  New  Madrid  sufferers  from  the  earthquakes  of  1811-12. 
It  turned  out  in  the  result,  if  there  was  any  truth  in  hard-swearing 
before  the  courts,  that  there  Avere  fivefold  more  New  Madrid  claims 
than  there  were  heads  of  families  and  single  men  in  that  district. 
There  were  honest  claims,  but  the  courts  of  justice  in  Missouri 
are  not  yet  through  with  the  fraudulent  ones. 

The  late  William  H.  Crawford,  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Treasury,  decided  that  no  pre-emption  rights  would  be  granted 
west  of  Cedar  creek.  He  overlooked  an  amendment  to  a  law  that 
provided  expressly  for  the  Boone's  Lick  settlements.  The  mails 
at  that  period  were  at  least  a  month  in  going  and  returning  from 
Washington,  and  some  three  months  passed  away  before  the  error 
•was  rectified. 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  1818,  that,  by  proclamation  of  the 
President,  the  land-offices  of  St.  Louis  and  Old  Franklin  were 
opened,  pre-emptions  confirmed  and  paid  for,  and  public  sales  com- 
menced. But  pre-emptions  in  the  Boone's  Lick  county  were  held 
in  abeyance.  In  the  meanwhile  hordes  of  speculators  in  New 
Madrid  claims  were  scouring  the  country  and  laying  a  claim  on 
every  farm  that  could  be  found. 

Enterprising  pioneers,  who,  like  Colonel  Benjamin  Cooper,  had 
defended  the  country  in  most  perilous  times,  were  in  imminent 
danger  of  losing  their  lands  and  improvements.  The  Register  and 
Receiver  of  the  land-office,  supposing  Congress  would  make  some 
provision  in  the  case,  held  back  these  farms  from  sale,  and  made 
proclamation  for  those  settlers,  who  ought  to  have  pre-emption- 
rights,  to  come  to  the  ofiice,  prove  their  rights,  and  have  them 
placed  on  record.  My  first  visit  was  at  this  crisis ;  and  I  could 
not  call  at  a  cabin  in  tlie  country  without  being  accosted :  "  Got  a 
New  Madrid  claim?"  "Are  you  one  of  these  land-speculators, 
stranger  ?" 

From  the  close  of  the  war,  the  old  settlers  had  been  struggUng 
and  putting  forth  all  the  industry  and  enterprise  possible  to  obtain 
money  to  pay  for  the  pre-emptions  at  the  minimum  price  of  Con- 
gress land.  I  will  leave  the  reader  to  imagine  the  just  indignation 
of  those  pioneers,  while  in  doubt  about  purchasing  the  land  their 
own  honest  industry  had  improved.     After  some  delay  the  law  was 


148  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

found  to  be  in  their  favor,  and  all  excitement  was  allayed  when 
they  got  their  certificates  of  purchase. 

During  the  war,  when  the  people  had  to  live  in  forts,  and  till 
1818,  no  correctly-thinking  person  could  expect  Christian  churche? 
to  be  organized,  revivals  to  follow,  and  the  baptism  of  converts  to  be 
reported.  With  five  Baptist  preachers,  and  as  many  more  Cum- 
berland Presbyterians  and  Methodists,  only  five  Baptist  churches, 
with  members  not  much  exceeding  one  hundred  in  all,  were  gath- 
ered before  1818.  That  year  the  five  churches  united  in  organizing 
the  Mount  Pleasant  Baptist  Association.  The  churches  were  Con- 
cord, Mount  Zion,  Mount  Pleasant,  Salem,  and  Bethel.  In  1820, 
these  five  churches  report  to  the  association,  seven  ministers  and 
two  hundred  and  thirteen  members.'  Mount  Pisgah,  in  Cooper 
county,  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  south  of  Boone ville,  was  formed 
by  immigrants  to  that  region  in  1819-20,  reported  three  ministers 
— Elders  John  B.  Logan,  Jacob  Chism,  and  Lewis  Shelton — and 
thirty-four  members.  Providence  church,  north  of  the  Missouri, 
was  formed  about  the  same  time  of  ten  members.  In  1820,  th« 
association  was  held  with  Concord  church  on  the  9th,  10th,  and  11th 
days  of  September,  when  seven  new  churches,  including  four  min- 
isters were  received.  The  churches  were  Petite  Osage  Bottom 
(called  Teetsaw),  Mount  Nebo,  Double  Springs,  and  Big  Bottom, 
south  of  the  Missouri ;  and  Mount  Arrarat,  Little  Bonne  Femme, 
aud  Chariton,  north.  The  elders  on  the  south  or  right  side  of  the 
river,  all  new-comers,  were  Peyton  No wlin,. William  Jennings,  and 
Peter  Woods.  In  the  Chariton  church,  then  located  in  the  old 
town  of  Chariton,  for  the  first  time,  is  the  name  of  the  late  Ebo- 
nezer  Rodgers.  From  the  same  church,  a  licensed  preacher  by 
the  name  of  John  Bowles  appears  on  the  minutes. 


BIG    BOTTOM    SETTLEMENT.  149 

CHAPTER    XL 

Recollections  of  Missouri  in  1819 — A  Seminary  contemplated. 

Ox  the  15th  of  January  we  pursued  our  journey,  visiting  such 
tamilies  as  we  could  find  scattered  along  the  points  of  timber,  con- 
versing and  praying  with  them.  After  a  ride  of  ten  miles  we  ar- 
rived at  the  house  of  Mr.  Ish,  just  in  season  to  hear  a  Methodist 
circuit-preacher  by  the  name  of  Jones.  Here  we  spent  the  day  and 
following  night.  Mr.  Ish  was  a  Presbyterian,  and  appeared  to 
be  a  pious,  intelligent,  and  liberal  man.  His  wife  was  an  amiable 
woman,  and  they  lived  in  their  double  log-cabin,  in  a  plain,  but  neat 
and  comfortable  style.  In  their  family-circle  there  was  peace  and 
harmony,  and  their  children  were  under  the  best  government  and 
instruction  I  had  seen  for  many  months.  Mr.  Ish  lamented  the  low 
state  of  religion  and  the  social  habits  that  prevailed  around  him, 
but  Uved  in  expectation  of  a  change  in  morals  and  habits  soon  as 
the  land  was  brought  into  market,  when  the  "  squatter"  class  would 
sell  their  pre-emptions  to  industrious  immigrants,  and  "  clear  out." 
This  settlement  was  extensive,  and  called  the  "Big  Bottom."  It 
extended  ten  or  twelve  miles  along  the  river,  opposite  the  town  of 
Chariton.  There  was  no  school,  and  a  majority  of  the  squatters 
wanted  none.  A  Baptist  church  of  a  dozen  members  had  been 
gathered  a  few  weeks  previous  to  our  visit,  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
settlement,  and  may  be  found  on  the  minutes  of  the  Mount  Pleasant 
Association  of  1820  with  the  name,  Big  Bottom. 

On  the  15th.  at  night,  we  saw  a  comet  plainly  visible,  which  not 
a  few  regarded  as  the  forerunner  of  another  Indian  war. 

On  the  Big  Bottom  was  a  cornfield,  under  a  common  fence,  of 
nearly  one  thousand  acres,  and  occupied  by  more  than  twenty  fami- 
lies, each  of  which  cultivated  their  separate  plat  of  ground.  A  ma- 
jority of  the  families  Uved  in  the  most  primitive  order  of  log-cabins 
around  this  field.  Several  we  passed  by  were  not  "chinked  nor 
daubed,"  and  the  chimneys  were  halves  of  logs,  laid  up  as  high  as 
the  mantlepiece,  and  served  as  a  slight  barrier  to  keep  out  the  cows 
and  hogs.  Children  and  youth  in  almost  countless  numbers  would 
show  their  tangled  and  matted  locks,  dingy  faces,  and  squalid  dress 
and  appearance  as  we  passed  by.     "We  had  met  with  so  little  en- 


150  MEiMOIR   OF  JOHN   M.  PECK. 

couragement  in  visiting,  conversing,  and  praying  with  this  class 
that  we  conchided  to  pass  them  by,  and  go  on  to  Mr.  Job's  house 
(a  Baptist  family)  where  I  had  sent  an  appointment  to  preach  at 
night.  This  was  on  Saturday,  the  16th  of  January.  Though  the 
appointment  had  not  been  circulated  more  than  one  hour  before 
our  arrival,  the  house  was  full  and  the  people  solemn  and  quite 
attentive.  We  conversed  with  several  persons  who  appeared  to  be 
seriousl^'^  inquiring  the  way  of  salvation.  For  mixed  up  with  the 
ignorant,  filthy,  wretched  squatters  described,  were  many  decent, 
respectable,  and  religious  families,  who  were  patiently  waiting  for 
the  land  to  be  brought  into  market,  when  the  squatters  would  give 
place  to  an  improved  class. 

On  Sabbath,  my  colleague  having  gone  over  to  Chariton  to  preach 
there,  I  preached  two  sermons  during  the  day. 

The  Sabbath,  as  a  day  of  worship  and  rest,  as  a  memorial  of  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  being  so  much  neglected  and  profaned,  even 
by  professors  of  religion,  and  knowing  the  people  on  this  frontier 
seldom  or  never  got  any  instruction  from  any  source  on  this  sub- 
ject, I  prepared  myself,  and  preached  to  a  crowded  assembly  from 
Isa.  Iviii.  13, 14,  associating  with  it,  Heb.  iv.  9, 10.  The  people  were 
attentive  and  solemn,  and  some  seemed  seriously  impressed.  After 
a  short  intermission  I  preached  again  from  Romans  x.  1.  I  dis- 
missed the  congregation  as  customary,  but  none  seemed  incHned 
to  move.  After  a  short  time  a  few  went  out,  while  the  rest  stayed 
and  sung  hymns.  I  again  exhorted,  prayed,  conversed,  and  by  re- 
quest I  gave  out  an  appointment  to  preach  on  Tuesday.  Some 
were  in  tears.  This  was  the  only  place  in  which  I  saw  any  in- 
dications of  a  revival  in  the  Boone's  Lick  settlements  during  my 
first  visit. 

After  dinner  I  rode  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Ish,  and  preached  again 
after  night.  Though  it  was  dark  and  rainy  I  had  a  house  full  to 
hear  me.  On  Tuesday,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Patterson,  I  rode  to 
Mr.  Job's,  where  both  preached  to  an  attentive  congregation. 

Next  day  we  bid  farewell  to  our  friends  in  Big  Bottom,  crop?od 
the  river  to  Chariton,  and  the  next  Sabbath  both  preached  in  that 
village. 

On  Monday,  January  25th,  I  gave  the  parting  hand  to  my  trav- 
eling companion,  whom  I  left  to  perform  missionary  labor  in  the 
Boone's  Lick  country,  and  rode  to  Franklin.  My  horse  being  lame, 
I  had  left  him  in  Booneville,  and  hired  one  for  the  late  tour.  Find- 
ing his  disease  was  the  swinney,  and  that  it  would  require  many 
months  to  recover.  I  was  compelled  to  leave  him  and  buy  another 


THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY   PROPOSED.  151 

to  take  me  to  St.  Louis.  On  ray  way  dcvrn  I  had  appointments 
for  frequent  preaching. 

'  During  the  period  of  my  visit  to  the  Boone's  Lick  country,  the 
winter  was  unusually  mild  and  open ;  no  snow  of  consequence, 
light  showers  of  rain,  and  for  one-third  of  the  nights  no  frost.  I 
reached  St,  Louis  on  the  5th  of  February. 

February,  1819.  It  now  became  expedient  to  make  such  arrange- 
ments in  the  Western  Missouri  enterprise,  as  would  save  expense 
and  promote  its  objects  more  effectually.  It  had  been  in  our  plan 
at  first,  even  before  we  left  Philadelphia  for  this  region,  to^establish 
a  seminary  for  the  common  and  higher  branches  of  education ;  and 
especially  for  the  training  of  school-teachers  and  aiding  the  prcacli- 
ers  now  in  office,  or  who  may  hereafter  be  brought  forth  in  the 
churches.  The  education  of  the  ministry  is  of  primary  importance 
in  all  new  countries.  A  classical  and  scientific  education,  such  as 
academies  and  colleges  furnish,  has  never  been  regarded  by  Bap- 
tists as  an  indispensable  requisite  to  entrance  on  the  gospel  min- 
istry, or  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  Christian  -pastor.  But  there 
are  certain  branches  of  education  that  are  indispensable  to  minis- 
terial usefulness. 

The  mind  must  be  trained  to  habits  of  thinking  ;  to  logical  rea- 
soning, to  readiness  of  speech ;  to  systematical  arrangement  of 
gospel  truth,  and  to  a  practical  application  of  Christian  duties. 
Mere  declamation  is  not  preaching  the  gospel.  A  man  may  stand 
up,  rattle  off  words,  tear  his  voice  to  tatters,  and  foam  at  the  mouth, 
and  yet  not  communicate  one  Scriptural  idea,  nor  excite  one  spirit- 
ual emotion  in  his  hearers.  We  have  a  very  poor  opinion  cf  a 
man  who  has  to  write  all  his  discourses,  and  read  them  off  on  the 
Sabbaths.  If  he  has  not,  and  cannot  acquire  the  gift  of  "  aptness 
to  teach,''  he  had  better  let  this  work  alone.  And  yet  the  writer 
has  written  out  in  full,  and  read  from  the  platform  not  a  few  dis- 
courses in  early  times  through  the  old  settlements  of  Illinois  and 
Missouri.  This  was  done,  in  part,  on  special  subjects,  that  seemed 
to  require  a  cluster  of  facts,  and  sometimes  dates,  to  produce  the 
desired  impression ;  and  partly  to  counteract  the  violent  prejudices 
that  prevailed  against  preparatory  study  and  written  outlines  in 
pulpit  discourses.  The  Puritans  (Presbyterians  and  Congregation- 
alists)  since  their  origin,  about  three  hundred  years  ago,  have 
gone  to  the  extreme  in  their  reading  lessons.  Baptists  and  Method- 
ists, until  late  years,  may  have  erred  on  the  other  hand ;  and  for 
lack  of  concentrated  thought,  and  writing  out  their  thoughts  in 
logical  and  consecutive  order,  became  mere  declaimers  ;  or,  rather, 


152  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

like  the  blind  horse  in  a  mill,  go  round  and  round  on  the  few 
Scriptural  ideas  they  profess. 

Our  aim  was  not  to  establish  a  regular  theological  institution,  or 
lay  the  foundation  and  build  up  a  college.  The  writer  never  had 
the  gift  of  anticipating  and  attempting  great  things.  It  has  been 
his  rule  through  Ufe  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  present,  and  trust 
to  Providence  for  the  future. 

As  my  family  was  the  largest,  and  better  adapted  to  a  country 
life,  and  the  burden  of  a  boarding-school,  while  the  circumstances 
of  my  colleague  and  his  family  made  it  expedient  they  should  abide 
in  town,  we  soon  settled  that  question.  The  next  was  the  location. 
Several  points  were  thought  of  on  both  sides  of  the  "  Great  River," 
but  it  was  no  easy  matter  then  to  find  a  village,  or  a  country  set- 
tlement, where  a  respectable  seminary  could  be  sustained  and 
boarders  accommodated.  The  Catholics  had  several  institutions, 
they  called  seminaries  and  colleges ;  but  for  literary,  scientific,  or 
theological  purposes,  they  could  never  do  much  good  among  the 
American  and  Protestant  population.  It  was  deemed  expedient 
for  the  writer  to  visit  several  places  within  fifty  miles  of  St.  Louis. 
St.  Charles  was  one  point  to  which  our  attention  was  directed ;  and 
the  preceding  autumn  we  had  aided  in  gathering  a  school,  and  by 
our  influence  with  the  citizens  of  that  growing  village  to  patronize 
a  man  whose  initials  were  J.  0.  Mr.  C.  was  a  Baptist  preacher,  and 
we  honestly  supposed  he  would  cordially  co-operate  in  all  our  Chris- 
tian enterprises.  But  to  our  sorrow,  within  less  than  a  twelve- 
month, we  found  out  by  documents  received  that  he  was  of  doubt- 
ful standing  among  Baptists  in  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  and  regarded 
a  disorderly  person.  He  had  been  raised  a  Quaker,  without  the 
honesty  or  truthfulness  of  that  sect.  He  had  been  baptized,  li- 
censed, and  ordained  in  Ohio,  but  never  did  have  the  confidence  of 
clear-headed  and  sound-hearted  Baptists. 

His  personal  appearance  and  address  gained  attention,  and  made 
temporary  claims  to  the  respect  of  his  patrons.  He  was  a  good 
penman,  but  deficient  in  orthography,  grammar,  and  other  branches 
of  a  good  English  education.  He  had  made  some  progress  in  plain 
mathematics,  and  had  studied  and  practiced  surveying,  though 
superficial  in  that  branch.  Yet  he  had  shrewdness  and  tact  to  find 
out  he  could  not  succeed  and  gather  a  profitable  school  without  an 
assistant  or  partner.  He  was  anxious — all  in  kindness  to  the  mis- 
sionaries— to  get  one  of  us  to  join  him.  This  made  repeated  visits 
to  St.  Charles  necessary  during  the  latter  part  of  February  and 
eailv  in  March 


ALTON    IN    1819.  153 

The  late  Hon.  Riifus  Easton  of  St.  Louis,  who  had  become  inter- 
ested in  the  landed  property,  projected  as  the  site  of  Alton  city, 
exacted  the  promise  that  we  should  not  decide  on  our  location 
until  we  had  visited  and  explored  that  site,  or  rather  the  village 
now  known  as  Upper  Alton,  two  and  a  half  miles  in  the  rear,  and 
on  elevated  and  healthy  ground.  And  we  hope  it  will  amuse  and 
not  offend  our  readers  in  that  vicinage  if  they  have  a  truthful  de- 
scription of  the  two  Altons  as  they  then  appeared. 

AYe  (singly — not  our  colleague)  left  St.  Charles  on  February  23d, 
1819,  and  rode  down  to  tlie  "Point"  towards  Smeltzer's  ferry,  then 
located  about  three  miles  above  the  site  for  a  city.  Here  we  crossed 
the  river  a  little  after  sunset,  and  had  five  miles  to  ride  to  the  in- 
habited village.  For  three  miles  the  pathway  la3'-  along  the  brink 
of  the  low  water  of  the  river  under  the  cliffs.  Not  far  from  the 
present  site  of  the  Alton  House,  there  was  a  building,  but  Avhether 
a  rough  frame  or  a  log-house  it  was  too  dark  to  perceive.  (There 
were  four  cabins  on  the  town  site.)  Here  we  obtained  directions 
how  to  find  and  follow  the  dubious  pathway  through  the  brush  and 
forest,  up  a  long  hill  to  the  village.  It  was  cloudy  and  dark,  but 
on  emerging  from  the  forest,  we  found  on  every  side  the  appear- 
ance of  camp-fires.  Log  heaps,  piles  of  brush,  old  stumps  and 
other  combustible  materials  were  gloAving  with  heat,  and  spreading 
an  illumination  o"^er  the  plateau.  Inquiry  was  made  for  a  tavern 
or  boarding-house,  and  we  were  directed  to  a  long,  low,  ill-looking 
log-house.  It  was  about  forty  feet  in  length,  and  probably  sixteen 
feet  wide,  the  doorway  for  entrance  at  the  west  end,  and  the  dining- 
room,  as  it  seemed  to  be  used  for  eating  purposes,  was  the  first 
room  entered.  Our  readers  are  aware  we  had  been  in  some  dirty 
places.  The  tabte  was  supported  by  forks  driven  in  the  ground, 
on  which  rough,  newly  sawed  boards  extended  perhaps  twenty 
feet.  An  old  cloth,  filthy  like  the  rest  of  the  establishment,  covered 
a  portion  of  the  table.  A  supply  of  dirty  dishes  indicated  that 
several  boarders  might  have  had  a  late  supper.  The  part  from 
which  the  dishes  and  cloth  had  been  removed  was  occupied  by 
three  parties  with  cards,  or  something  resembling  spotted  pieces 
of  pasteboard ;  all  in  harmony  with  the  rest,  for  the  cards  and  men 
were  the  dirtiest  objects  I  had  seen  since  our  pilgrimage  in  the 
Boone's  Lick  country.  On  inquiring  for  the  landlord,  a  shock- 
head,  begrimed  features,  and  soiled  garment  that  appeared  to 
belong  to  a  "human"  came  in.  The  first  thing  was  to  find  a  stable 
and  feed  for  a  wearied  horse. 

On  exploring  the  premises,  I  found  him  in  a  log  pen  with  some 


i54  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.   TECK. 

boards  over  one  half  the  roof,  and  the  mud  mid-leg  deep.  Seeing 
no  cliance  for  better  quarters,  I  left  him  munching  corn,  of  which 
ne  had  a  supply. 

It  did  not  take  many  minutes  to  frame  and  carry  into  effect  a 
resolution  to  find  better  quarters  for  his  rider.  While  living  in 
St.  Louis  the  preceding  year,  I  had  formed  a  slight  acquaintance 
with  the  family  of  Doctor  Erastus  Brown,  who  in  autumn  had 
removed  to  Upper  Alton.  OjQ'ering  a  dirty,  ragged  boy  a  dime  to 
pilot  me  to  Dr.  Brown's,  slinging  my  saddle-bags  on  the  arm,  and 
climbing  over  stumps  and  logs,  brought  us  to  the  snug,  neat, 
newly-built  log-house — no,  we  will  call  it  a  "cottage" — where  we 
found  the  doctor,  his  lady,  and  two  or  three  httle  ones,  in  as 
comfortable  quarters  as  any  decent  folks  deserved  to  have  in  those 
frontier  times. 

"  Doctor,  I  have  called  to  impose  myself  upon  your  hospitality," 
and  gave  him  a  brief  sketch  of  my  recent  adventure,  amongst 
wretchedness,  filth,  drunken  ribaldry,  and  low  profanity  of  the 
boarding-house. 

Both  declared  a  hearty  welcome,  and  regretted  I  did  not  call  on 
them  on  my  first  arrival.  I  told  the  good  lady  not  to  get  supper, 
for  I  had  eaten  a  late  dinner,  and  it  was  drawing  towards  bed-time, 
but  in  the  quickest  time  she  had  the  tea  made  and  the  table  spread. 
I  told  her  I  was  used  to  sleeping  on  the  floor  with  my  saddle  for  a 
pillow,  and  saddle-blanket  for  covering,  but  I  was  ushered  into  a 
neat  httle  room,  with  a  bed  and  covering  fit  for  a  prince.  In  all 
my  wanderings,  I  never  experienced  as  great  and  sudden  a  transition 
from  wretchedness  and  filth  to  comfort  and  happiness. 

In  the  morning,  after  an  early  breakfast,  in  company  with  my 
friend,  Dr.  B.,  I  made  an  exploration  through  the  town,  w^as  intro- 
duced to  several  citizens,  and  learned  all  that  was  necessary  of 
Upper  Alton  at  that  time,  as  the  site  for  a  seminary  of  learning. 

There  were  on  the  spot  between  forty,  and  fifty  families,  living 
in  log-cabins,  shanties,  covered  wagons,  and  camps.  Probably  not 
less  than  twenty  families  were  destitute  of  houses  ;  but  were  getting 
out  materials  and  getting  up  shelters  with  industry  and  enterprise. 
I  had  become  acquainted  with  the  extremes  of  the  social  state,  and 
had  no  opportunity  to  enlarge  my  experience.  Doubtless  there 
were  other  families  living  as  comfortably  as  the  one  whose  hospi- 
tality I  had  shared. 

I  found  a  school  of  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  boys  and  girls  was 
taught  by  some  backwoods  fellow,  but  the  chance  for  a  boarding- 
school  was  small  indeed.     There  was  the  old  settlement  about  the 


ST.  CHARLES — INUSSTSSIPPI.  155 

forks  of  AVood  river  and  Eattan's  prairie  that  might  furnish  a  few 
scholars.  The  Macoupin  settlement — real  frontier  rowdies — was 
thirty  miles  north,  of  a  dozen  families ;  then  three  families  had 
ventured  over  Apple  creek.  The  emigrants  to  the  Sangamon 
country  went  there  the  preceding  winter.  Peoria,  on  the  Illinois 
river,  was  an  old  French  village  of  twenty-five  cabins.  Morgan, 
Cass,  Scott,  and  all  those  counties  along  the  Illinois  river  were  the 
hunting-grounds  of  the  Indians.  The  late  JNIajor  Wadsworth  and 
half  a  dozen  families  had  made  their  pitch  in  Calhoun  county.  All 
the  country  to  the  east  and  north  was  one  vast  wilderness.  Where 
then  could  scholars  be  found  to  fill  a  seminary  at  Upper  Alton  ? 
After  deciding  all  such  questions,  I  gave  a  fellow  a  quarter  to  clean 
the  mud  from  my  horse,  paid  for  his  fare,  received  a  hearty  invita- 
tion from  Df.  and  Mrs.  Brown  to  call  on  them  the  next  time  I 
visited  Alton,  and  made  my  way  by  another  path  back  to  Smelt zer's 
ferry.  It  wa?  three  or  four  years  before  I  again  visited  Upper 
Alton,  during  which  period  quite  a  town  had  sprung  up,  but  I 
never  could  find  the  locality  of  the  dirty  tavern  house  ;  never  again 
saw  the  family  or  its  inmates,  and  was  so  fortunate  as  not  to  learn 
their  names.  It  is  thought  not  one  of  that  breed  can  now  be 
found  in  Madison  county. 

Having  crossed  the  river  and  rode  a  few  miles,  I  preached  to 
about  twenty  people,  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Griffith,  a  widow  lady, 
a  dozen  miles  from  St.  Charles,  which  became  one  of  my  preaching- 
stations  through  the  season.  I  rode  home  with  Mr.  Ayres,  where 
I  spent  the  night.  Mr.  A.  and  his  wife  were  Presbyterians,  and 
originated  from  Stamford,  Ct.  They  were  intelligent  and  respecta, 
ble  people  and  lived  in  comfortable  style. 

]\[yself  and  colleague  were  engaged  in  a  missiori  compact  in  the 
F-a-r  W-e-s-t,  until  it  was  dissolved  by  the  joint  action  of  the 
Board  of  the  old  Triennial  Convention,  and  the  missionaries. 

I  have  previously  given  an  account  of  the  organization  of  the 
"  United  Society  for  the  spread  ^  the  Gospel,"  in  Illinois  and 
Missouri.  This  was  the  first  missionary  society  that  was  formed 
in  this  part  of  the  world.  One  object  was  to  aid  the  preachers 
then  in  the  country,  to  itinerate  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
destitute. 

I  had  volunteered  to  officiate  as  collecting  agent,  without  charge, 
to  provide  the  fimds  to  sustain  the  itinerants.  It  was  in  this  busi- 
ness I  was  engaged  while  traveling,  from  October,  1818,  to  April, 
1819.  That  is,  while  performing  all  sorts  of  work  as  an  itinerant 
missionary,  under  supervision  of  the  Board  in  Philadelphia,  and  in 


156  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

concert  with  my  colleague  in  St.  Louis,  I  did  what  I  could  to  pro- 
vide means  for  the  local  society,  that  liad  been  organized  by  the 
advice  and  approbation  of  three  associations.  One  mode  to  secure 
contributions,  was  to  organize  ''Mite  Societies''  in  the  churches. 
I  had  formed  three  such  societies  during  my  3xcursion  in  the 
Boone's  Lick  country. 

During  the  first  week  in  March  (1819)  it  was  decided  that  a  new 
mission  station  should  be  established  at  St.  Charles,  a  seminary 
planted  there,  and  that  I  should  take  charge  of  that  station,  and 
that  my  colleague  should  maintain  the  post  at  St.  Louis.  During 
much  of  this  month  the  weather  was  stormy ;  rain,  snow,  and  sleet 
frequent,  the  roads  muddy,  and  vegetation  late  in  putting  forth. 

On  the  19th  I  crossed  the  "  Great  Kiver,"*  and  rode  to  Elder  D. 
Badgley's  residence.  The  road  was  intolerably  muddy,  and  before 
I  reached  there  the  cold  air  was  piercing.  My  object  was  to  spend 
a  few  days,  in  providing  funds  for  the  "  United  Society  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel." 

The'  church  I  first  visited  in  the  Badgley  settlement  was  called 
"Ogle's  Creek,"  and  the  members  were  scattered  over  the  field 
now  occupied  by  Unity  and  the  southern  portion  of  Bethel 
churches.  Here  I  formed  the  ''Ogle's  Creek  Mite  Society,  auxili- 
ary," etc.  This  was  the  first  social  organization  for  missionary 
purposes  ever  formed  in  Illinois. 

On  Monday,  the  22d,  in  company  w4th  Elder  Badgle^^  I  started 
on  a  week's  tour.  We  rode  across  the  spot  of  ground  where  I  have 
since  resided  for  more  than  thirty-five  years,  crossed  Silver  creek 
by  deep  fording,  and  spent  the  day  and  night  with  brother  William 
Padon,  the  father  of  our  venerable  Elder  John  Padon. 

*  This  compound  word  as  I  give  it  includes  every  particle  of 
meaning  contained  in  tbe  modern  name  Mississippi.  ,  Some  fancy- 
monger,  with  more  imagination  than  learning,  since  my  first  resi- 
dence on  its  banks,  gave  the  modern  name,  ''  Father  of  Waters.''^ 
It  has  just  as  much  truth  and  real  philology  in  it  as  another  phrase, 
''Dark  and  hloudy  ground,''^  when  applied  to  Kentucky.  The  word 
Mississippi  is  a  compound  word  in  tlie  Algonquin  language  ; — the 
most  extensive  language  of  the  Indians  of  North  America,  though 
corrupted  into  different  dialects  by  the  Ottawas,  Sauks,  Foxes, 
Miamis,  and  the  tribes  towards  the  Atlantic.  Mr.  Schoolcraft  says, 
(1820)  "It  is  now  spoken  nearly  in  its  primeval  purity  by  the 
different  bands  of  Cbippeways.  It  is  a  compound  of  the  word  Missi, 
signifying  great,  and  Sepe,  a  river."  Let  no  crack-brained  geniup 
hereafter  say  or  write  '■'■Father  of  Waters.'''' 


THEOLOGY    AND    COMMOJC-SENSE.  157 

Elder  Badgley — like  manj'  of  our  frontier  preachers,  who  never 
knew  any  rules  for  the  interpretation  of  Scripture,  but  their  own 
fancy,  or  as  some  of  them  mistakingly  thought,  the  Spirit  of  God 
taught  them  the  meanyig — had  some  queer  speculations,  which  he 
occasionally  preached  to  the  world. 

We  had  a  long  but  friendly  talk  about  the  fall  of  man,  and  the 
liind  of  death  Adam  died,  according  to  the  threatening  denounced, 
on  the  partaking  of  the  forbidden  fruit, — ''ye  shall  not  eat  of  it, 
neither  shall  ye  touch  it  lest  ye  die."  (Gen.  iii.  3.)  I  have  heard 
the  whimsical  dogma  preached,  not  merely  on  these  frontiers,  but 
in  ''York  State,"  in  early  times,  that  man  did  not  die  a  spiritual 
death  but  a  moral  death  ;  so  we  held  a  profitless  discussion  about 
spiritual  and  moral  death,  and  all  the  collateral  circumstances  and 
contingencies. 

These  crude  notions  had  their  origin  in  ignorance  of  the  meaning 
of  words,  and  the  distinction  between  the  hteral  and  figurative 
meaning  of  words  and  phrases.  A  good  English  dictionary  and  a 
careful  examination  of  the  meaning  of  words,  with  a  smattering  of 
the  elements  of  rhetoric,  about  "tropes  and  figures,"  and  a  slight 
touch  of  logic  and  mental  philosophy  would  have  been  of  great 
service  to  this  class  of  preachers.  But  some  of  them  were  as 
much  afraid  of  a  dictionary  as  they  were  of  a  missionary. 

It  would  be  a  capital  thing  if  w^e  could  preserve  the  golden  mean 
in  the  education  of  ministers,  and  especially  young  ones.  But 
there  is  such  a  tendency  to  extremes  in  every  thing,  that  it  is  next 
to  impossible  to  keep  the  middle  track,  and  educate  our  young 
ministry  in  the  Scriptures.  They  are  taught — or  rather  in  our 
modern  institutions,  they  are  carried  over  superficially,  a  wide  field 
in  science  and  literature,  and  learn  very  little  of  that  book,  doc- 
trinally,  practically  and  spiritually,  which  God  has  given,  and  out 
of  which  he  has  commanded  them  to  teach  the  people.  Some  ot 
these  ilUterate  old  men  have  studied  the  Bible  carefully,  and  with 
prayer,  and  guided  by  plain  common-sense,  and  deep  reverence  for 
the  things  of  God,  overflow  with  true  Biblical  knowledge,  and 
spiritual  emotions ;  though  they  sometimes  make  blunders  in 
speech  and  miss  the  meaning  of  figurative  language.  And  yet 
young  preachers  who  have  dabbled  a  little  in  Latin  and  Greek,  are 
apt  to  turn  up  their  noses  at  these  old  fathers.  Such  is  poor 
human  nature  in  young  and  old. 

Tuesday  morning,  March  23d,  w^e  rode  a  northern  course  be« 
tween  Silver  creek  and  Looking  Glass  prairie  to  Elder  Kobert 
Brazil's  house,  where  the  heavy  rains  and  our  preaching  appoint- 
14 


158  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.   I'ECK.    • 

ments  detained  us  till  Friday.  On  this  trip  we  rode  over  the  town 
plat  of  Lebanon,  then  containing  five  log-cabins.  We  preached 
daily,  visited  some  families,  and  formed  the  "  Looking  Glass  Prairie 
Mite  Society." 

Elder  Badgley  (who  was  one  of  the  managers)  was  soon  after 
appointed  an  itinerant  missionary  for  Illinois,  and  performed  two 
months  missionary  service  at  sixteen  dollars  per  month ;  and  the 
Mite  Societies  I  formed,  as  agreed  upon,  paid  their  funds  over  to 
the  missionary,  and  he  reported  to  the  treasurer  in  St.  Louis. 

Keturning  to  Mr.  Padon's  on  the  26th,  I  preached  in  the 
vicinity  at  night.  My  congregation  were  three-fourth's  Methodist ; 
for  Payfield's  settlement  was  a  regular  old  "  stamping  ground"  for 
Methodism. 

Silver  creek,  from  the  heavy  rains  since  we  crossed  it,  was 
swimming  deep,  and  the  bottom  land  was  covered  with  water,  np 
to  the  mid-sides  of  a  horse,  and  the  prospect  of  reaching  our  next 
appointment  was  quite  dubious.  However,  Brother  Padon,  who 
was  inured  to  frontier  life,  had  the  ivill  to  help  us  onward,  and 
"  where  there  is  a  will  there's  a  way." 

Saturday  morning  the  sun  shone  out,  and  after  an  early  break- 
fast, our  host  yoked  up  his  oxen,  and  hauled  a  big  trough  to  Silver 
creek,  and  crossed  over  the  missionaries  with  their  saddles  and  lug- 
gage, and  swam  the  horses  along  side  the  feeding-trough,  converted 
into  a  canoe.     It  required  three  trips  to  do  this. 

Amongst  the  contrivances  of  Infinite  AYisdom  for  man's  accom- 
modation is  his  providential  operations  in  forming  the  banks  of  all 
our  creeks  and  rivers  in  this  valley,  so  as  to  leave  a  skirt  of  land 
along  the  border,  some  four  or  five  feet  above  the  overflow  of  the 
bottoms.  This  furnished  a  dry  and  convenient  plateau  for  saddling 
and  mounting  our  horses.  AVe  rode  half  a  mile  through  deep 
water,  and  after  crossing  Ogle's  and  other  creeks,  and  by  following 
a  "blind  trail,"  we  reached  old  Mr.  Seybold's  residence  in  season  to 
meet  the  httle  Baptist  church  then  called  Cantine  Creek. 

The  situation  of  Mr.  Seybold's  residence  (one  of  our  old  pioneers, 
long  since  deceased)  was  about  three  miles  north  of  west  from 
Troy.  Here  we  preached  on  Saturday  night  and  Sabbath,  and 
formed  the  "  Cantine  Creek  Mite  "Society." 

The  state  of  rehgion  throughout  the  whole  country  was  very 
low  ;  not  a  revival  could  be  heard  of  in  Illinois  and  Missouri.  The 
ministers  and  many  of  the  members  of  any  degree  of  intelligence 
in  the  old  Illinois  Association,  at  that  time,  were  friendly  to  these 
missionary  announcements.     At  the  preceding  session  (October 


MISSION-SOCIETIES   APPROVED    OF.  159 

lOth,  1818),  the  following  record  was  placed  on  the  minutes  without 
opposition,  and  apparently  with  honesty  ol'  purpose.  It  was  the 
twentieth  item : 

"  Brother  Peck  presented  the  plan  of  a  society  to  employ  mis- 
sionaries, and  promote  common  scliools  amongst .  the  whites  and 
Indians,  which  we  desire  to  see  carried  into  effect,  and  which  we 
recommend  to  the  churches." 

I  also  give  the  record  for  Lord's-day,  October  11th,  Elder  William 
Jones  being  clerk : 

"A  respectable  concourse  of  people  having  met.  Brother  Peck 
preached  a  missionary  sermon  from  Exodus  xxxiii.  15 :  'If  thy 
presence  go  not  wdth  me,  carry  us  not  up  thence.'  A  collection 
for  the  Indian  fund  of  the  Western  Baptist  Mission  Society,  of 
eleven  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents,  was  received  by  Brother  Peck." 

[This  money  was  appHed  to  the  expenses  of  the  Indian  mission 
in  the  Wabash  country  under  Elder  Isaac  McCoy.] 

The  record  further  says  : 

"Brother  Jones  preached  from  Heb.  iv.  3,  and  Brother  Musick 
from  Isaiah  liii.  1.  Brother  Peck  closed  by  giving  some  interesting 
accounts  of  religious  revivals  in  the  Northern  States  and  elsewhere." 

The  "  plan  of  a  society"  to  employ  missionaries  took  the  form  of 
the  "  United  Society  for  the  spread  of  thS  gospel."  Five  months 
after  this  act  of  the  only  association  then  in  Illinois,  the  venerable 
David  Badgley,  the  first  Baptist  minister  who  settled  his  family  in 
tha  Illinois  country,  and  the  missionary  of  another  Board,  were 
forming  "Mite  Societies,"  auxiliary  to  the  first  missionary  organ- 
ization in  the  Far  W«st. 

On  Monday,  the  29th,  after  a  violent  shower,  wath  some  thunder 
and  hail,  I  preached  in  the  log-cabin  of  Messrs.  ColHns,  three 
brothers,  who  came  to  St.  Louis  in  December,  1817,  at  the  same 
time  the  writer  and  his  family  arrived.  They  came  over  the  river 
early  in  1818,  purchased  a  farm  and  the  cabin  they  then  occupied, 
and  where  I  preached  the  first  sermon  ever  heard  on  the  site  of 
('olHnsville.  The  Brethren  Lemen  and  others  had  preached  in  the 
adjacent  settlements  a  dozen  years  previous. 

On  the  8th  of  April  my  family  was  removed  to  the  town  of 
St.  Charles.     Here  we  commenced  a  hterary  institution  with  the- 
name  of  St.  Charles  Academy,  having  formed  a  partnership  with 
J.  C,  heretofore  mentioned. 

The  number  of  scholars  was  about  thirty,  but  soon  increased 
:  to  forty.     At  the  same  time,  Eev.  Charles  S.  Eobinson,  a  Presby- 
terian missionary  from  the  Eastern  States,  established  a  meeting 


IGO  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK. 

in  the  same  village.  He  received  occasional  aid  from  another  mis- 
sionary (Rev.  Mr  T.) 

I  lieard  Mr.  T.  preach  several  times.  His  sermons  were  good, 
sometimes  eloquent;  but  —  as  the  laborer  SAid  to  the  prophet 
(2  Kings  vi.  5) :  "Alas,  master! — it  was  borrowed."  One  from 
Luke  xiv.  18  was  from  Burder's  Village  Sermons.  At  the  monthly 
concert  for  prayer  in  St.  Louis,  he  gave  us  a  lecture  from  Daniel 
ix.  1-3.  This  discourse  was  chiefly  made  up  from  one  then  recently 
preached  before  the  East  Tennessee  Bible  Society.  A  portion  I 
recognized  as  having  been  first  preached  and  published  in  the 
Eastern  States. 

Ministers  of  the  gospel  ought  to  collect  all  the  ideas  and  thoughts 
they  can  from  every  source,  work  them  over  in  their  own  mental 
laboratory,  and  clothe  them  in  their  own  language.  But,  if  they 
copy  other  men's  sermons,  and  retail  them  off  as  their  own,  those 
present  who  recognize  them,  ought  to  exclaim :  "  Alas,  master  ! 
for  it  was  borrowed." 

To  lessen,  as  much  as  possible,  the  expense  of  the  mission,  I 
made  every  effort  to  sustain  my  family  by  the  fruits  of  my  own 
labor.  Attendance  in  school,  domestic  affairs,  and  cultivating  a 
garden,  kept  me  busily  employed,  and  in  a  state  of  mind  that  was 
a  poor  qualification  for  a  preacher  of  Christ  There  is  such  'a 
tendency  in  human  nature  to  become  worldly-minded,  that  it  re- 
quires constant  watchfulness,  and  the  abiding  impression  that  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel  is  the  paramount  business  of  life,  and  every 
other  pursuit  to  be  kept  in  subordination  to  this  one  great  calling. 
And  I  have  no  question  that  every  J^aan  who  has  felt  himself  to 
be  called  of  God,  and  been  set  apart  by  the  Church  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  has  no  right  to  forsake  it  for  any  earthly  advantage. 
And  every  one  who  does  forsake  this  calling,  because  of  its  sacri- 
fices and  inconveniences,  and  enter  on  the  business  of  the  world 
that  he  may  get  rich,  or  that  his  family  may  be  placed  in  respecta- 
ble and  fashionable  circumstances,  should  be  "  unfrocked,"  as  our 
Episcopal  friends  express  it.  Such  men  have  either  made  a  sad 
mistake  in  getting  into  the  ministry,  without  those  elements  of 
mind  and  character  required  in  the  gospel,  or  they  will  suffer  the 
chastisement  of  a  merciful  Saviour,  and  fail  in  their  pursuit  of 
worldly  prosperity  and  happiness.  There  is  an  immeasurable  dif- 
ference between  such  men  and  those  ministers  who  provide  a 
support  for  their  families  by  their  own  industry  and  the  economy 
and  household-management  of  their  wives  ;  while  they  feel  and  act 
as  though  preaching  the  gospel  was  the  paramount  business  of 


SUrPORT    OF    THE    MINISTRY.  161 

Ufe,  and  the  class  who  give  up  that  calling  because  it  does  not 
afford  them  the  income  necessary  to  gratify  their  earthly  desires. 
Ministers  who  sustain  themselves,  and  labor  in  the  ministry  for  the 
salvation  of  sinneae  and  sustaining  feeble  churches,  deserve  all 
praise.  And  while  the  ministers  of  Christ  are  entitled  to  a  support 
from  the  churches  they  serve  (wherever  abiUty  exists"),  they  should 
be  encouraged  and  commended  whenever  they  devote  such  time 
and  talents  as  they  have  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 

During  the  summer  of  1819,  amidst  the  secular  employments 
alluded  tc  (for  teaching  school  is  no  more  a  gospel  service  than 
plowing  corn),  I  generally  had  appointments  to  preach  in  destitute 
neighborhoods,  in  the  town  of  St.  Charles,  and  occasionally  in 
St.  Louis.  On  the  18th  of  April  we  opened  a  Sunday-school,  which 
w^as  the  first  known  in  that  town.  Another  department  of  labor 
was  preaching  to  the  colored  people,  chiefly  slaves,  on  Sabbath 
evenings.  Several  became  seriously  disposed,  professed  to  be 
savingly  converted  to  God,  and  some  were  baptized. 

During  this  season  I  suffered  afflictions  from  impurity  of  the 
blood.  A  series  of -severe  boils  annoyed  me  for  three  months,  and 
on  two  Sabbaths  when  I  had  appointments  in  the  country,  I  was 
prevented,  from  inability  to  ride  on  horseback.  Thus  the  summer 
passed  away  without  any  thin^  of  particular  notice.  During  vaca- 
tion the  latter  part  of  June,  I  made  a  missionary  tour  to  the  Salt 
river  settlements,  and  found  a  call  for  Bibles  and  Testaments  in 
every  neighborhood.  The  state  of  religion,  even  where  small 
churches  existed,  was  very  low.  There  were  two  or  three  preach- 
ers without  any  regular  standing  in  the  churches  of  any  evangelical 
denomination,  whose  conduct  was  suspicious,  and  who  did  more 
harm  than  good.  Church-members  were  eagerly  engaged  in  worldly 
pursuits.  They  attended  church-meetings  monthly,  when  they  had 
nothing  else  to  do,  and  preaching  occasionally  when  some  itinerants 
passed  through  the  settlement ;  but  I  seldom  found  one  who  wor- 
shipped God  at  home,  or  trained  up  his  children  in  the  way  they 
should  go.  If  the  mother  was  a  real  Christian,  the  children  were 
not  wholly  neglected.  There  were  instances  that  came  under  my 
observation,  though  few,  in  which  the  mother  made  it  a  matter  of 
principle  to  talk  with  her  children  and  pray  with  them  ;  and  the 
blessed  effects  are  visible  in  some  families  to  this  day. 


162  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PEC5K. 


CHAPTER    XIL 

Review  of  the  Western  Mission— rosition  and  prospects  of  Messrs. 
Peck  and  Welch — Experiences — Dissolution  of  their  connection 
as  Missionaries  of  the  Board. 

The  very  full  reminiscences  of  Mr.  Peck,  contained  in  the 
preceding  chapters,  here  close.  Before  taking  up  the  thread 
of  the  narrative  of  the  future  years,  to  be  gathered  from  his 
journals  and  correspondence,  it  seems  appropriate  "to  make 
up  the  reckoning,"  in  sailor  phrase,  in  regard  to  the  progress 
hitherto  secured.  Between  two  and  three  years  had  now 
elapsed  since  Messrs.  Peck  and  Welch  had  reached  St.  Louis 
and  commenced  their  mission  and  explorations.  They  had 
found  in  the  territory  and  its  neighborhood  remote  from  Il- 
linois, more  Baptist  churches  and  ministers  (so-called)  than 
they  had  expected.  The  larger  part  were  feeble,  unintelligent, 
and  peculiarly  susceptible  of  prejudices  against  better-in- 
formed, more  zealous,  and  ampler-sustained  ministers,  coming 
among  them,  and,  as  they  could  readily  perceive,  supplanting 
them  in  influence  and  favor  with  the  people.  Neither  of  these 
missionaries  had  then  had  as  ample  experience  as  afterward 
in  dealing  with  the  prejudices,  and  guarding  against  the  jeal- 
ousy of  this  class  of  preachers  and  churches.  On  a  candid 
and  thorough  review  of  all  their  proceedings  during  these 
trying  and  eventful  years,  they  might  doubtless  see  how  it 
would  have  been  possible  to  have  so  modified  some  of  their 
acts,  and  so  have  guarded  some  of  their  deportment,  as  to 
have  escaped,  or  at  least  diminished,  a  portion  of  the  un- 
toward influences  which  were  raised  up  to  oppose  them.  The 
anti-mission  party  among  American  Baptists  was  just  then 
taking  form,  and  assuming  its  attitude  of  hostility  to  those  of 
their  brethren  who  heartily  engaged  in  evangelizing  opera- 
tions, both  at  home  and  abroad      It  naturally  allied  itself  to 


THE    SCHOOL   AT    ST.  CHARLES.  163 

ihe  antinomianism  and  selfishness  too  prevalent  in  all  partially 
sanctified  hearts.  It  found,  too,  one  of  its  securest  intrench- 
ments  in  ignorance,  prejudice,  and  jealousy  in  the  ministry. 
There  would  occur  frequent  opportunity  for  misrepresentation  ; 
and  of  this  a  portion  of  those  ministers  availed  themselves 
with  unscrupulous  avidit}^  The  best  of  men  are  imperfect ; 
and  there  will  be  furnished  abundant  occasion  among  those 
seeking  occasion  to  fiind  fault  with  the  spirit  or  the  manage- 
ment of  those  who  were  struggling  with  all  their  might  to 
introduce  a  more  orderly,  intelligent,  and  efficient  system  of 
operations  among  these  sparsely-scattered  churches,  and  their 
illiterate  and,  therefore,  very  naturally  jealous  and  prejudiced 
ministers. 

Some  infelicities,  too,  were  just  beginning  to  manifest  their 
influence  in  the  associate  in  Mr.  Peck's  school  operations  in 
St.  Charles.  Indeed  it  was  quite  impossible  to  effect  very  much 
in  teaching,  while  so  many  calls  for  preaching  were  responded 
to,  at  such  a  distance  from  the  residence  of  the  missionaries, 
either  in  St.  Louis  or  St.  Charles.  A  double  object  was  re- 
garded in  attempting  these  schools.  First,  to  furnish  better 
specimens  of  teaching  than  hitherto  existed  in  that  vicinity, 
and  to  prepare  more  competent  instructors  for  the  many 
schools  needed ;  and  next,  to  secure  in  a  great  degree  their 
support  from  the  tuition  they  should  receive.  The  former  of 
these  objects  was  measurably  attained.  But  the  latter  signally 
failed.  After  deducting  the  expenses  for  rents,  assistants,  etc., 
and  the  various  losses  from  those  unable  or  unwilling  to  pay, 
the  net  income  of  the  St.  Louis  school  was  never  large,  and 
that  at  St.  Charles  still  less. 

To  some  of  us  at  this  distance  of  time,  and  but  little  ac- 
quainted with  the  concomitant  circumstances,  it  no  doubt 
seems  strange  that  these  brethren  had  not,  in  the  outset,  con- 
centrated their  labors  more  on  one  or  two  important  points, 
and  by  thus  more  fully  demonstrating  their  full  success  and 
manifest  advantages,  have  carried  ampler  and  earlier  con- 
viction to  the  minds  of  all.  The  fact  was  that  no  small  portion 
of  the  censure  they  incurred  was  for  going  and  settling  them* 


164  MEMOIR    OF    JOnN    M.   FECK. 

selves  in  the  chief  towns  to  the  neglect  of  the  scattered  pioneer- 
dwellers  in  the  wilderness.  How  baseless  such  an  allegation 
was,  their  abundant  travels  and  exposures  in  the  cabins  of  the 
poor  and  destitute  abundantly  confirm  ;  while  the  motive  for 
their  efforts,  and  for  their  too  frequent  and  long  absences 
from  home,  is  made  manifest.  They  tried  very  resolutely 
to  take  away  occasion  of  offense  from  those  too  ready  to  seek 
such  occasion. 

As  the  natural  result  of  this  course,  though  themselves 
very  fully  convinced  of  the  importance  of  giving  more  time 
and  attention  to  St.  Louis  especially,  they  had  been  so  much 
diverted  from  and  hindered  in  this  work,  that  the  church- 
edifice,  which  two  years  earlier  had  been  commenced,  was 
scarcely  completed  ;  their  congregations  had  very  much  dwin- 
dled ;  and  their  taunting  opponents  seemed  likely  to  realize 
their  hope  of  the  discomfiture  of  the  missionaries  in  their  en- 
deavor to  plant  firmly  in  that  important  post  the  banner  of 
the  Cross. 

Yery  sad,  though  not  altogether  desponding,  are  some  of 
their  letters  and  the  entries  in  the  journals  of  the  mission  at 
this  period.  To  add  to  the  disquietude  of  Mr.  Peck,  he  seems 
to  have  suffered  greatly  at  this  period,  in  View  of  his  own 
want  of  more  fervent  zeal  and  pious  devotedness  to  the  spir- 
itual duties  of  his  high  calling.  His  diary  for  some  weeks  is 
filled  with  lamentations  over  his  want  of  greater  conformity 
to  his  Saviour ;  and  the  fervent  prayers  here  recorded  show 
how  far  he  was  in  reality  from  the  deadness  of  soul  which  he 
lamented. 

The  autumn  of  1820  brought  also  other  experiences  of  a 
most  afflictive  and  trNing  character  to  our  brother  and  his 
family.  That  season  proved  very  sickly,  and  disease  and 
death  spread  their  pallid  influences  all  around  them.  First, 
his  eldest  son,  a  fine,  promising  lad  between  ten  and  eleven 
years  old,  who  had  begun  to  prove  a  comfort  and  joy^to  his 
parents,  by  rendering  himself  useful  in  his  father's  long  and 
repeated  absences  from  home,  was  prostrated  by  the  prevalent 
fever,  and  for  a  few  days  hung  trembling-  between  life  and 


TRIALS   ANL    SICKNESS   OF   MR.  PECK.  165 

death.  With  agonizing  importunity  the  ciy  was  uttered : 
Spare  him  1  Spare  him  !  But  such  was  not  the  will  of 
Heaven.  He  died,  and  two  days  afterward  the  brother-in- 
law  of  Mr.  Peck,  a  member  of  his  family,  Mr.  S.  Paine,  also 
died.  Thus  God  sorely  tried  the  faith  and  the  submission  of 
his  servant.  But  even  in  the  furnace  he  found  the  sustaining 
presence  and  favor  of  his  Saviour.  Looking  up  to  him  with 
adoring  reverence  and  love,  he  was  enabled  from  the  heart 
to  say  :   "■  Though  he  slay  me,  I  will  trust  in  him." 

He  was  himself  called  to  pass  through  a  severe  attack  of 
illness ;  and  when  physicians  and  friends  all  gave  him  up  for 
lost,  it  pleased  the  Lord  almost  miraculously  to  raise  him  up 
again.  The  sanctified  influence  of  all  this  varied  but  severe 
discipline  upon  his  own  soul  was  eminently  salutary.  Fer- 
vently had  he  been  praying  that  the  Lord  would  quicken  him 
again,  and  give  to  him  the  true  appreciation  of  the  blessedness 
of  his  chosen  ones ;  and  specially  that  he  would  warm  his 
heart  to  engage  in  his  missionary  and  evangelical  labors  with 
the  holy  zeal  which  he  had  anticipated  as  he  contemplated 
them  at  a  distance.  The  prayer  was  now  answered.  And 
with  a  heart  tremulous  with  deep  emotion,  and  smarting  from 
recent  chastisement,  he  was  enabled  to  cleave  to  the  hand 
which  had  smitten  him,  not  in  anger  but  in  tenderest  love. 
His  journal  and  his  letters  breathe  now  the  spirit  of  deadness 
to  the  world,  and  an  absorbed  engagedness  in  his  Master's 
work ;  of  concern  for  the  welfare  of  souls  around  him,  and 
the  forgiveness  of  injury,  which  indicate  the  unmistakable 
presence  and  power  of  the  in-dwelling  Spirit  of  God.  How 
readily  he  now  found  opportunities  to  plead  with  all  the  un- 
renewed around  him  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  How  easy  it 
was,  in  every  family  where  he  gained  admission,  to  converse 
personally  with  the  inmates,  and  press  home  the  urgencies  of 
the  great  salvation.  In  preaching  and  prayer,  too,  he  seemed 
like  another  man  ;  so  much  so,  that  it  was  very  noticeable 
among  his  friends,  some  of  whom  thought  it  an  almost  sure 
indication  that  his  work  on  earth  was  nearlv  done,  and  that 


166  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

the  Lord  was  rapidly  ripening  him  for  the  blessedness  on 
high. 

In  the  mean  time  very  considerable  changes  were  awaiting 
him  in  his  external  relations.  In  a  private  letter  to  his  es- 
teemed former  teacher,  Dr.  Staughton,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Mission  Board,  he  had  intimated  the  difficulties  experienced  in 
his  and  his  colleague's  attempts  to  do  any  thing  effective  for 
the  poor  Indians  from  the  point  of  their  present  location  ;  and 
Rev.  Isaac  McCoy  was  urging  his  coming  to  the  aid  of  that 
mission  under  his  care  at  Fort  Wayne.  It  was  thrown  out 
rather  as  an  inquiry  by  Mr.  Peck  to  elicit  further  light  as  to 
whatever  opinion  the  Secretary,  from  his  intercourse  with  the 
Board,  might  be  disposed  to  form,  and  privately  communicate 
it  to  him.  But  not  very  unreasonably  it  was  otherwise  inter- 
preted, and  made  the  ground  of  rather  a  summar}-  proceeding. 
The  convention  of  1820  was  much  engrossed  at  just  this  period 
both  with  the  Burman  Mission  and  the  founding  of  the  Colum- 
bian college  for  the  training  of  their  missionaries  and  others, 
and,  having  listened  with  concern  to  some  anti-mission  com- 
plaints from  the  West,  proceeded  to  direct  the  Board  to  dis- 
continue the  mission  at  St.  Louis.  The  following  is  the 
minute  entered  on  the  records  of  the  Westerii  mission  : 

July  9th,  1820.  The  missionaries  received  official  intelligence  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Board  that  this  mission  was  closed  for  the 
following  reasons : 

1.  The  want  of  ample  funds  for  its  vigorous  prosecution. 

2.  A  supposition  on  the  part  of  the  Board  that  this  region  would 
be  soon  supplied  by  the  immigration  into  it  of  preachers  from  the 
Middle  and  Eastern  States. 

3.  The  opposition  in  the  West  was  also  urged  as  a  reason  for  its 
being  abolished.  The  triennial  convention  had  accordingly  recom- 
mended this  course,  which  the  Board,  as  in  duty  bound,  thus  car- 
ried out : 

Brother  Welch  is  requested  to  continue  his  labors  in  St.  Louis 
as  a  private  minister  and  not  as  a  missionary,  no  aid  being  promised 
him.  Brother  Peck  is  directed  as  speedily  as  practicable,  on  the 
termination  of  the  present  year,  to  remove  to  Fort  AYayne,  and 
join  Rev.  Mr.  McCoy  in  his  labors  among  the  Indians.  Thus  term- 
inates  the  Western  Mission.  Attest :  J.  M.  Peck,  Secretary. 


CLOSE    OF    THE    -WESTERN    MISSION.  167 

The  missionaries  experienced  no  little  mortification  and 
surprise  by  this  abrupt  and  unexpected  termination  of  their 
arrangements  and  connection.  Little  more  than  three  years 
had  elapsed  since  their  appointment,  as  they  understood,  for 
life.  And  though  they  had  expected  to  have  made  their 
efforts  in  the  school  more  remunerative,  to  lighten  the  expense 
of  the  mission  to  the  Board ;  and  though  they  had  antici- 
pated a  more  generous  contribution  from  those  to  whom  they 
ministered,  and  had  in  a  too  sanguine  confidence  relied  on  the 
hope  of  larger  and  earlier  success  in  their  missions,  yet  they 
were  not  prepared  for  so  summary  a  winding  up  of  their 
joint  labors.  It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  neither  of  them 
became  in  the  slightest  degree  alienated  from  the  mission 
cause,  or  even  from  the  Board.  On  the  contrary,  both  of  them 
remained  for  scores  of  years  the  faithful  and  devoted  friends 
of  this  cause.  Mr.  Welch,  by  domestic  duties  of  an  impera- 
tive character,  was  soon  called  away  from  that  field  for  a  long 
season.  But  he  had  too  largely  adventured  his  labors,  en- 
terprise, and  even  his  little  pecuniary  patrimony,  in  the  effort 
to  rear  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  carry  forward  to,  mature 
strength  the  feeble  Baptist  Church  in  St.  Louis,  to  prove 
recreant  to  its  interests.  For  years  afterward  his  best  energies 
were  often  put  forth  to  liquidate  its  debts  and  promote  its 
welfare,  though  not  permitted  by  Providence  to  become  a 
resident  preacher  there. 

The  feelings  and  views  of  the  other  missionary  may  be 
learned  from  the  following  communication  to  the  Board  : 

St.  Louis  County,  A^ot'emSer  17^/j,  1820. 

To  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign 

Missions  : 

Eev.  and  Dear  Sir  : — After  a  silence  of  some  months  I  resume 
my  pen  once  more  to  address  the  Board.  The  hand  of  God  has 
lain  heavily  upon  me  and  the  waves  of  trouble  have  rolled  in  fright- 
ful torrents  over  my  head.  First,  I  was  attacked  with  bilious  fever 
in  its  most  malignant  form,  which  soon  brought  me  past  all  ex- 
pectations of  recovery ;  but  when  the  hopes  of  friends  and  physi- 
cianR  failed,  a  good  and  gracious  Providence  was  pleased  to  raise 


168  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK, 

me,  and  the  same  mercy  has  now  restored  me  to  my  usual  health. 
Two  of  my  younger  children  were  sick  at  the  same  time. 

The  first  week  of  October  was  a  peculiarly  trying  time  in  ray 
famify.  My  oldest  son — a  promising,  sprightly  youth — was  smitten 
by  the  destroying  angel ;  and  my  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Paine,  followed 
two  days  after.  My  oldest  daughter  then  lay  low,  but  has  since 
recovered.  Under  these  accumulated  trials  we  have  enjoyed  a 
?pirit  of  submission.  Why  should  a  worm  complain  at  what  in- 
finite wisdom  and  goodness  have  done  ! 

A  letter  from  the  Secretary,  together  wdth  the  annual  report  of 
the  Board,  announced  to  me  the  important  change  in  this  mission ; 
but  the  intelligence  was  received  while  I  lay  on  the  verge  of  the 
grave.  All  things  considered,  perhaps  the  Board  have  pursued  the 
best  course  by  dropping  the  mission ;  but  they  widely  mistake  when 
they  deduce  their  reason  "  from  the  numerous  emigrations  of  min- 
isters to  our  Western  settlements,  that  the  period  has  arrived  when 
it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  support  any  brethren  as  missionaries 
at  these  places."  But  one  Baptist  preacher  has  emigrated  to  Mis- 
souri, within  one  hundred  miles  of  St.  Louis,  since  our  arrival,  and 
■we  heartily  wish  him  back  again  ;  and  not  more  than  two  or  three 
in  Illinois,  within  the  same  radius,  from  this  centre.  Nor  is  there 
9,  better  prospect  in  future  for  this  species  of  emigration  in  the 
same  extent  of  country.  To  reiterate  w'hathas  been  repeated  often, 
this  region  is  l»eplorably  destitute — the  reports  of  professors  of  re- 
ligion in  Kentucky  and  elsewhere  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  direction  of  the  Board  that  I  should  repair  to  Fort  Wayne 
has  deeply  engaged  my  thoughts.  What  the  Board  have  done  I 
am  not  disposed  to  find  fault  with,  but  regret  that  they  have  ex- 
pressed in  so  decisive  terms  "that  Mr. Peck  at  the  close  of  the 
present  year  immediately  become  a  laborer  with  Mr.  McCoy."  On 
this  point  1  have  serious,  conscientious  difficulties.  The  field  around 
me  appears  too  important  to  be  thus  early  vacated.  The  sphere 
of  useful  eflort  is  certainly  w^idening.  With  all  the  time  I  can  spare 
I  am  unable  to  visit  even  occasionally  one-half  of  the  destitute 
churches  and  settlements  that  plead  for  the  gospel.  I  hope  I  have 
no  objection  to  living  and  laboring  amongst  the  Indians  and  devoting 
the  remnant  of  my  da3^s  to  their  welfare  ;  but  by  whom  shall  Jacob 
arise  here,  for  he  is  very  small?  The  distance  from  this  to  Fort 
Wayne  is  not  less  than  five  hundred  miles,  near  the  northwest  corner 
of  Ohio.  The  expense  of  removing  must  be  considerable,  and  when 
there,  continued  expense  must  be  incurred.  Here  I  can  minister 
largely  to  my  own  necessities.     I  have  no  wish  to  incur  furthei 


MR.  PECK   REMAINS   AT   ST.  LOUIS.  169 

expense  to  the  mission.  That  has  already  been  greater  than  I  ever 
anticipated.  I  have  felt  intensely  desirous  for  the  time  to  come 
when  missionary  efforts  here  would  no  longer  burden  a  liberal 
public  abroad.  That  time,  I  think,  has  already  come.  'J'hough  my 
usefulness  must  be  abridged  greatly  by  it,  I  am  willing  to  labor  with 
my  hands,  or  to  use  any  lawful  effort  to  support  my  family,  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  gospel.  It  really  seems  to  me  as  if  the  voice  of 
Providence  was  saving  to  me:  "Stay  where  you  are,"  especially 
since  the  late  distressing  change  in  my  family.  May  I  offer  one 
consideration  more  ?  The  health  of  Mrs.  Peck  is  somewhat  pre- 
carious. The  vigor  of  her  constitution  has  been  impaired  by  her 
removal  to  this  country.  In  case  of  the  proposed  removal  to  Fort 
Wayne,  she  must  (with  a  babe  but  a  few  weeks  old)  have  female 
help  on  the  road,  and  that  is  next  to  impossible  to  get  in  this 
country.  All  these  considerations  induce  me  to  request  the  Board 
to  reconsider  their  resolution  concerning  the  field  of  my  future 
labor.  I  do  not  wish  to  relinquish  the  principles  of  a  missionary, 
and  it  would  be  my  desire  still  to  be  under  the  wing  of  the  Board, 
though  not  as  to  support,  in  case  they  will  recall  my  appointment 
to  Fort  Wayne.  Should  circumstances  prevent  Brother  Welch's 
return  to  settle  in  St.  Louis  or  vicinity,  I  do  not  see  how  I  could 
leave  this  region ;  for  St.  Louis  must  not  be  relinquished  by  the 
Baptists. 

With  sentiments  of  continued  respect,  I  am  yours,  etc., 

J.  M.  Peck. 

To  Rev.  Wm.  Staughton,  Cor.  Sec. 

Six  months  later,  viz.,  in  May,  1821,  Dr.  Staughton  wrote 
to  Mr.  Peck  :  "  The  Board  would  have  preferred  your  settling 
down  with  Brother  McCoy,  but  the  reasons  you  assign  for 
continuing  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis  are  so  entirely  satis- 
factory, that  the  propriety  of  complying  with  your  wishes 
struck  the  mind  of  every  member."  Sufficiently  equivocal 
this,  certainly,  for  the  most  astute  Secretary.  But  it  seems 
to  have  been  understood  on  both  sides  as  closing  the  mission- 
aries' relations  of  dependence  on  the  support  of  the  Board. 
To  obviate  all  possibility  of  misconception  hereafter,  it  has 
been  deemed  necessary  to  give  these  statements  in  full,  from 
the  records  of  the  Western  mission,  which  have  been  carefully 
preserved. 

16 


no  MEMOIK    OF    JOHN    M.   PECK. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

New  Position  of  Mr.  Peck— Timely  Aid  from  Massacliusetts — Re-' 
moval  to  Rock  Spring. 

It  may  easily  be  supposed  that  Mr.  Peck  would  feel  some 
solicitude  in  regard  to  his  future  course,  after  the  dissolution 
of  his  connection  with  the  missionary  Board  which  sent  him 
out,  and  hitherto  had  sustained  him.  For  although  their  re- 
mittances had  been  neither  large  nor  regular,  and  more  than 
once  the  missionaries  were  for  many  months  without  answers 
to  their  letters,  or  supplies. for  their  wants,  so  that  they  were 
left  in  great  perplexity,  yet  eventually  the  Board  made  them 
remittances  which  relieved  them  from  suffering,  and  they 
were  thus  enabled  more  vigorously  to  prosecute  the  important 
object  of  their  designation.  Now,  however,  all  expectation 
of  further  aid  from  this  quarter  had  been  dissipated.  At  the 
same  time  they  had  done  absolutely  nothing  to  educate  the 
churches  which  they  had  formed,  or  others  which  they  ir 
part  supplied,  in  the  duty  of  contributing  of  their  carnal  things, 
while  the  preachers  were  laboriously  striving  to  promote 
their  spiritual  welfare.  This,  at  first  view,  seems  unaccount- 
able and  wrong.  But  there  were  peculiar  circumstances  war- 
ranting, or  at  least  apologizing  for  it.  These  churches  were 
very  small  and  poor,  their  members  struggling  with  the  infe- 
licities of  a  new  settlement,  and  having  every  thing  to  do  for 
themselves.  The  St.  Louis  church  were  deeply  involved  in 
debt  for  the  church-edifice  ;  and  it  was  thought  better  for  the 
time  being  to  encourage  them  to  concentrate  their  efforts  on 
paying  the  interest  on  this  debt,  rather  than  say  any  thing  to 
them  about  salary 'for  the  preachers.  Moreover  they  were 
aware  of  the  prejudice  existing  in  many  minds  against  them 
as  missionaries  ;  and  for  the  same  reason  that  Paul,  in  pecu- 
liar circumstances,  would  not  be  chargeable  to  young  churchc^s 


MR.  PECK    WITHOUT    SUPPORT.       .  171 

which  he  planted  and  preached  to,  lest  odium  should  thereby 
be  attached  to  the  gcspel,  so  these  missionaries  wished  as  far 
as  possible  to  remove  the  reproach  of  having  any  worldly 
interest  of  their  own  in  planting  and  watering  these  germs 
of  a  future  and  more  perfect  evangelization  in  that  new  field. 

They  had  formed  missionary  societies  wherever  they  had 
deemed  it  prudent  and  practicable,  and  devoted  the  proceeds 
faithfully  to  sustaining  traveling  preachers — the  best  which 
could  be  obtained  in  that  region — to  preach  among  the  desti- 
tute. Moreover,  they  hoped  by  this  means  to  conciliate  the 
favor  of  these  humble  men  to  the  idea  of  the  wisdom  and 
beneficence  of  the  missionary  cause.  But  probably  the  con- 
tributions were  too  small,  irregular,  and  unreliable,  to  have 
much  favorable  effect  of  this  kind.  Certain  it  is  that  some 
of  these  recipients  of  the  bounty  of  the  ckurches,  raised  with 
utmost  difficulty  by  the  solicitations  of  Messrs.  Peck  and 
Welch,  and  paid  over  in  full  to  those  thus  employed,  turned 
against  the  very  men  who  had  tried  to  feed  them.  Some 
actually  went  over  to  the  anti-mission  part}^,  and  others 
evinced  a  jealous  and  unlovely  spirit  toward  their  benefactors 
which  it  was  hard  for  the  latter  patiently  to  bear.  In  this 
way,  one  after  another  of  the  associations  and  churches,  which 
they  had  influenced  successfully  at  first  to  favor  the  missionary 
c:iii.-e.  now  turned  against  it,  and  seemed  inclined  to  repudiate 
them  altogether. 

It  became,  therefore,  a  matter  of  extreme  difficulty  and 
delicacy  for  Mr.  Peck  now  to  introduce  this  matter  of  needed 
support  for  his  family,  where  he  had  been  accustomed  to  give 
his  labors  freely.  More  than  ever  did  he  therefore  feel  in- 
clined to  obtain  as  early  as  practicable  a  little  farm,  by  the 
cultivation  and  products  of  which  he  might  in  a  considerable 
degree  sustain  himself.  But  even  to  make  this  experiment 
required  a  considerable  outlay,  and  he  was  now  penniless,  the 
sickness  of  himself  and  family  having  entirely  exhausted  every 
means. 

Early  in  the  year  1822,  a  correspondence  was  opened  be- 
tween himself  and  brethren  in  Boston,  which  ere  long  led  to 


172  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECR. 

his  appointment  as  the  missionary  of  the  Massachusetts  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Society.  His  first  commission  in  their  service, 
signed  by  the  honored  names  of  Thomas  Baldwin,  President, 
and  Daniel  Sharp,  Secretary,  is  dated  Boston,  March  12th, 
1822.  The  correspondence  which  led  to  his  appointment  is 
interesting  and  equally  honorable  to  both  parties  ;  but  as  it  is 
chiefly  a  recapitulation  of  the  facts  above  stated,  it  need  not 
here  be  reproduced.  The  letter  of  the  Secretary,  accompany- 
ing the  commission,  stated  that  the  society's  appropriation 
would  be  five  dollars  a  week  for  the  time  actually  spent  in 
their  service,  and  that  he  would  be  expected  to  raise  as  much 
as  practicable  of  this  amount  on  the  field  of  his  labors,  and 
make  regular  returns  of  his  labors  and  receipts.  Here,  then, 
was  a  small  but  reliable  foundation  laid  for  some  aid  in  his 
family's  support.  •Believed  so  far  from  anxieties  w^hich  had 
preyed  upon  his  spirit,  he  seems  to  have  entered  with  un- 
wonted ardor  upon  his  chosen  work.  His  family  remained 
for  some  time  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Charles,  but  we  find  him 
very  often  in  St.  Louis  cheering  on  the  feeble  Baptist  churches 
there ;  and  the  remainder  of  his  time  was  pretty  equally 
divided  between  the  destitute  portions  of  Missouri  and  Illinois. 
After  balancing  all  the  considerations  for  and  against  this 
step,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  best  promote  the 
interests  of  the  mission  and  the  cause  of  Christ  for  him  to 
settle  his  family  in  Illinois.  Accordingly,  in  the  end  of  the 
month  of  April,  1822,  he  removed  to  Rock  Spring,  which 
henceforth  became  his  family  residence.  Here  he  obtained  a 
half-section  of  unimproved  land,  and  with  some  little  assist- 
ance from  kind  neighbors  he  was  enabled  to  erect  such  build- 
ings as  made  them  measurably  comfortable,  and  began  the 
cultivation  of  a  little  portion  of  the  land  to  aid  in  supporting 
his  household.  The  time,  and  care,  and  toil,  which  he  de- 
voted to  this  seems  to  have  been  at  times  oppressive  to  him  ; 
but  though  he  complains  of  its  deadening  his  religious  sus- 
ceptibilities, he  did  not  intermit  or  shrink  from  these  en- 
deavors till  his  family  was  made  comfortable.  His  residence 
on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  great  river,  though  still  in  proximity 
to  St.  Louis  aii.d  th-'-  scenes  of  ^  is  former  principal  labor!^. 


SETTLEMENT    AT    ROCK    SPRING.  US 

brought  him  into  closer  connection  with  many  brethren,  minis- 
ters, and  others,  whom  he  ardently  loved  and  esteemed  till 
the  end  of  his  earthly  course.  The  Lemens  were  among  the 
former ;  and  their  living,  increasing  friendship  and  esteem 
were  based  on  the  solid  excellencies  mutually  recognized  and 
appreciated  in  each  other.  Very  many  others,  both  ministers 
and  private  Christians,  and  some  who  as  philanthropists, 
patriots,  and  promoters  of  the  welfare  of  these  incipient  set- 
tlements in  the  wilderness,  became  intimately  connected  with 
him  in  counsels  and  labors,  will  be  often  mentioned  in  the 
course  of  this  narrative. 

A  little  band  of  brethren,  chiefly  from  Georgia,  had  settled 
around  the  new  home  he  had  chosen,  and  they  desired  to  be 
formed  into  a  church.  Accordingly,  on  the  26th  of  May, 
1822,  the  organization  and  public  recognition  of  the  church 
was  consummated.  The  day  being  very  stormy,  many  were 
detained  from  attending ;  but  sermons  were  preached  by 
Brethren  Peck  and  Kinney,  the  church  was  constituted  in  due 
form,  and  the  Lord's  Supper  administered.  It  was  a  solemn 
and  interesting  occasion. 

The  following  Sabbath  found  him  ministering  to  the  St. 
Louis  church,  and  on  the  3d  of  June  he  set  forth  on  a  labori- 
ous tour  of  some  weeks  to  the  eastward,  visiting  the  Wabash 
Association  and  several  places  of  importance,  both  in  Illinois 
and  Indiana.  The  following  extracts  from  his  journal  will 
indicate  the  state  of  feeling  at  that  time  in  the  association, 
and  the  efforts  he  made  to  promote  the  cause  of  truth  : 

Saturday,  Sth  June.  Reached  the  associaiion,  New  Princeton, 
Ind.,  and  was  afiectionately  received  by  Brother  William  Polke  and 
some  other  brethren,  but  soon  discovered  strong  prejudices  and 
jealousies  on  account  of  my  missionary  character.  No  seat  was 
allowed  me.  However,  the  association  appointed  me  to  preach  on 
llie  morrow.     Preached  at  night  at  a  brother's  where  I  tarried. 

Lord's-day,  9^/i.  A  BrotherAnderson  and  Brother  Parker  preached 
In  my  interview  with  Brother  Parker  I  alluded  to  his  address  about 
missions,  and  told  him  I  could  cheerfully  give  him  my  hand,  as  a 
conscientious  and  well-meaning,  though  greatly-mistaken  brother. 
He  is  a  most  determined  opposer  of  the  whole  mission  system.  In 
the  evening  I  preach-i'd  m  ihp  court  hous''  at  Princeton  on  the  sub- 


174  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

ject  of  missions,  and  spent  the  night  with  Brother  Devin.     M5 
mind  quite  engaged. 

Monday,  IO//1.  I  preached  before  the  association  on  missions- 
The  Wabash  Association,  though,  while  Brother  McCoy  was 
amongst  them,  warm  friends  of  the  mission — at  least  a  majority 
were — have  in  too  many  instances  become  opposed.  Prejudices 
have  risen  up,  and  some  are,  I  doubt  not,  influenced  by  selfish 
motives.  It  appears  very  evident  Ihat  Parker  is  determined  not 
to  yield,  or  give  up  the  ground  he  has  assimied.  To  effect  his  pur- 
pose he  has  been  engaged  for  some  time  among  a  portion  of  the 
churches. 

After  some  amendments  to  the  constitution  of  the  association 
had  been  discussed,  the  subject  of  missions  came  up.  This  was 
occasioned  by  one  church  having  charged  another  with  having 
supported  missions  as  constituting  a  grievance.  This  gave  full 
scope  for  a  discussion  on  the  propriety  of  missions.  Mr,  Parker 
opposed  them  with  all  the  ingenuity  in  his  power,  and  Mr.  Wm. 
Polke  as  ably  defended  them.  I  then  obtained  leave  to  speak,  and 
entered  on  a  detail  of  facts  connected  with  this  subject.  The  whole 
discussion  lasted  about  five  hours,  and  excited  peculiar  interest  in 
the  public  mind.  A  large  assembly  seemed  unwilling  to  stir  from 
the  place  till  the  decision  was  reached.  I  have  never  before  met 
with  so  determined  an  opposcr  to  missions  in  every  aspect.  But 
the  decision  gave  a  decided  victory  to  the  cause  of  missions,  fully 
sustaining  the  church  which  had  contributed  to  their  support. 

In  the  evening  preached  again  on  missions,  and  received  a  gen- 
erous collection  in  aid  of  the  cause  at  Princeton  court-house.  Passed 
the  night  with  Judge  Prince.  The  citizens  in  and  about  Princeton 
have  treated  me  with  the  utmost  affection  and  respect.  I  was  in- 
vited to  almost  every  house.  A  disposition  to  hear  me  preach  was 
manifested  beyond  any  thing  before  witnessed  in  the  West.  Let 
me  never  be  so  ungrateful  as  to  forget  the  kindness  they  have 
shown.     The  Lord  reward  them. 

Then  he  proceeded  as  far  as  Yineennes,  and  preached  in 
various  places,  riding  here  and  there,  in  sunshine  and  storm, 
striving  to  instruct  and  comfort  the  churches,  and  win  the 
unbelieving  to  the  Saviour.  On  returning  home  he  thus 
reviews  the  journey  : 

"I  have  been  absent  from  home  twenty  days;  have  rode  four 
hundred  and  fifty-six  miles,  preached  twenty-five  times,  visited 
many  families  and  settlements,  and  gained  much  information  in 


MISSION   TO   MISSOURI.  175 

regard  to  the  destitution  of  this  part  of  our  country,  the  great 
need  of  missionaries,  and  the  promising  fields  which  are  ripening." 

After  a  few  days  spent  with  his  family,  our  brother  left  for 
a  mission  tour  in  Missouri.  Passing  a  Sabbath  in  St.  Louis, 
he  officiated  at  the  funeral  of  a  poor  Baptist  brother,  just 
arrived  from  Ohio,  with  a  wife  and  six  children.  They  were 
all  sick  and  in  the  most  distressing  circumstances.  He  speaks 
with  some  admiration  of  the  humane  and  generous  attention 
manifested  by  the  citizens  generally  in  their  great  affliction — 
consoling  them  in  the  bereavement,  and  contributing  to  supply 
their  needs. 

Pursuing  his  route  onward  through  Feefee  and  Bonhomme, 
in  each  of  which  churches  he  had  endeavored  to  make  an 
appointment  for  preaching,  but  found  no  hearers,  or  next  to 
none,  he  laments  pathetically  the  low  state  of  piety  preva- 
lent among  them.  At  the  latter  place,  however,  he  met  with 
an  old  disciple,  Father  Stephen  Hancock,  eighty  years  of  age, 
mourning  over  the  low  state  of  Zion.  Yery  sound  in' doctrine, 
a  great  admirer  of  salvation  by  grace.  He  was  one  of  the  en- 
terprising emigrants  who  accompanied  the  celebrated  Colonel 
Daniel  Boone  to  Kentucky  in  its  first  settlement,  and  had  long 
maintained  a  pious  deportment.  They  rode  together,  in  pious 
conversation,  to  Point  Labadie,  where  the  little  church  seemed 
to  prosper.  Our  brother  visited  the  sick,  instructed  and  prayed 
with  inquirers,  and  preached  to  them  the  gospel.  Thus  he 
went  on  from  place  to  place,  ministering  the  word  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel  to  those  rarely  enjoying  these  privileges. 
At  the  end  of  two  or  three  weeks  he  returned  home,  finding 
sickness  and  death  in  his  way.  A  small  assembly  in  St.  Louis 
was  addressed,  containing  in  all  but  fifteen  females,  of  whom 
it  proved  that  thirteen  were  widows.  His  wife  and  two  chil- 
dren were  soon  prostrated  by  bilious  fever,  and  for  some  days 
their  lives  seemed  to  hang  by  a  very  brittle  thread.  Deeply 
was  his  mind  exercised  in  regard  to  this  discipline,  and  very 
humbly  did  he  lie  before  the  Lord,  crying  for  his  mercy ;  and 
at  length  it  dawned  upon  them.  His  family's  health  having 
measurably  recovered,  the  24th  of  August  we  find  him  attend^ 
\ng  the  Illinois  Association  at  Wood  river.    General  coldness  in 


176  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

religion,  '^''ith  not  a  little  of  personal  pique  and  jealousy  toward 
our  brother,  was  here  also  evinced.  He  preached,  however,  at 
the  stand,  while  the  business  of  the  body  was  being  transacted 
in  the  meeting-house.  In  this  latter,  his  journal  records,  was 
brought  to  light  much  of  the  real  nature  of  the  opposition  to 
missions  in  this  country.  It  evidently  arises  from  some  of 
the  most  selfish  and  contracted  feelings  of  the  human  heart. 
Even  some  real  Christians,  in  a  low  state  of  religion,  some- 
times evince  much  bitter  prejudice,  and  such  a  disposition  as 
is  entirely  repugnant  to  the  gospel.  He  preached  here,  but 
without  the  good  effects,  apparently,  which  had  lately  attended 
his  efforts  in  Indiana  under  somewhat  similar  circumstances. 

First  of  September  he  again  preached,  baptized  four,  and 
administered  the  Lord's  Supper  in  St.  Louis.  The  sickness 
then  prevailing  much  thinned  the  meeting.  He  found  diflB- 
culties  presenting  themselves  in  the  church,  which  he  records 
his  conviction  that  nothing  but  the  special  influence  of  the 
Lord's  Spirit  can  reconcile.  From  this  point  he  again  pro- 
ceeded into  the  interior  of  Missouri,  and  preached  in  many  of 
the  places  where  he  had  before  labored  with  various  indications 
of  success.  Gratefully  he  speaks  of  a  Brother  Louis  Williams, 
a  preacher  whom  he  met  on  this  tour,  and  whose  great  im- 
provement within  two  years  and  the  indications  of  whose  use- 
fulness filled  him  with  delight.  In  various  parts  of  this  wide 
field,  appearances  of  a  genuine  revival  gladdened  his  heart. 
So  much  so,  that  again  and  again  he  swept  over  this  wide 
circuit,  visiting  the  feeble  and  young  churches,  and  in  some 
instances  baptizing  into  their  fellowship  recently-converted 
souls.  Abounding  in  labors  of  this  cheering  character,  his 
mind  and  heart  evidently  became  more  buoyant  and  cheerful. 
Abounding  in  the  works  of  the  Lord  was  evidently  his  delight. 

The  church  at  St.  Louis,  whose  pecuniary  and  other  embar- 
rassments had  occasioned  him  so  much  solicitude,  he  was  at 
length  enabled  to  snatch  from  pecuniary  disaster.  Early  in 
November  I  find  the  following  record  in  his  journals : 

This  night  (Xovembcr  4ih)  we  entered  into  an  arrangement  with 
the  Presbyterian  Society  about  holding  and  occupying  the  meeting- 
house in  joint  concern — the}-  advancing  fifteen  hundred  dollars  to 


ST.  LOUIS   CHURCH — VANDALTA.  HT 

pay  the  debts  and  finish  off  the  house,  and  tlie  Baptist  Society  to 
have  ten  years  in  which  to  refund  the  money  and  resume  the  ex- 
clusive possession.     This  plan  ultimately  failed  of  execution. 

On  Lord's-day  eveniDg,  the  12th  of  the  same  month,  he 
preached  a  funeral  sermon  for  the  beloved  Jacoby,  in  the 
legislative  hall  at  St.  Charles,  where  this  good  man  had  died 
a  few  weeks  previously.  He  had  been  a  main  pillar  in  the 
Baptist  church  at  St.  Louis ;  and  for  a  long  time  afterward 
it  seemed  as  though  his  removal  threatened  to  terminate  its 
existence.  An  appropriate  memoir  of  him  was  also  forwarded 
by  Mr.  Peck  and  inserted  in  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Maga- 
zine.  (See  vol.  for  1823.) 

His  first  quarterly  report  was  forwarded  about  this  time  to 
the  missionary  society  in  Boston  by  whom  he  was  in  part 
sustained.  It  breathes  a  cheerful  and  confiding  spirit,  and 
earnestly  pleads  for  more  laborers  to  be  sent  into  this  wide 
field. 

Near  the  end  of  December,  we  find  him  visiting  Yandalia, 
the  seat  of  government  of  Illinois.  He  preached  in  the 
legislative  hall  by  the  desire  of  the  legislature  then  in  ses- 
sion. Here,  too,  he  met  with  the  same  Daniel  Parker,  his 
antagonist  at  the  Wabash  Association,  and  who  was  here 
as  a  senator  of  Illinois,  as  hostile  as  ever.  A  second  time, 
Mr.  Peck  preached  to  a  densely-crowded  assembly  in  the 
hall  of  the  legislature  in  advocacy  of  Bible  societies,  to  which 
form  of  evangelical  benevolence,  as  he  saw,  it  was  more  diflS- 
cult  for  the  anti-mission  party  to  offer  objections,  than  to  some 
others  where  human  infirmity  is  more  mingled.  To  this  topic, 
for  some  time  after  this,  our  brother  successfully  devoted 
much  of  his  attention. 

This  same  Parker  also  very  considerably  changed  his  track 
from  a  little  after  this  time.  Wearying  or  discouraged  in  his 
direct  efforts  in  the  anti-mission  cause,  he  broached  a  new 
form  of  heresy  and  schism.  His  two-seed  doctrine  has  been 
very  fully  described  by  Brother  Peck  at  a  later  period  of  their 
history. 


178  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 


CHAPTER    XIY. 

Report  of  labors — Loss  of  Diary  and  other  valuables,  etc. 

In  the  month  of  September,  Mr.  Peek  made  a  tour  through 
Madison,  Greene,  and  Morgan  counties,  111.,  for  preaching 
the  gospel ;  which  excursion  he  speaks  of  as  having  been 
very  satisfactory  to  himself,  and  he  hoped  of  advantage  to 
the  interests  of  Zion.  He  preached  one  night  in  Edwards- 
ville,  and  the  next  in  Carrolton,  where  the  sermon  from 
Ileb.  xi.  25  was  blessed  to  the  fuller  awakening  and  conversion 
of  one  individual,  Thomas  Garlin,  subsequently  Governor  of 
the  State  of  Illinois  The  two  follov\^ing  months  also  found 
him  frequently  revisiting  these  scenes,  where  there  were  dis- 
tinct evidences  of  the  Spirit's  presence  and  power.  We  give 
from  his  journal  a  single  day's  experience  in  each  of  these 
months,  indicating  the  prevalent  spirit  which  now  possessed 
his  mind. 

Loed's-day,  28^/i  Septemher.  Wet  weather,  yet  a  tolerably  large 
assembly  collected  at  Carrolton,  to  whom  I  preached  from  Heb.  iii.  2  : 
*'0  Lord,  revive  thy  work."  My  whole  object  now  is  to  promote 
a  revival,  if  possible.  For  this  end  I  exhort  professors  in  the  plain- 
est language  to  arouse  from  their  supineness,  and  call  upon  sinners 
to  repent.  Besides  public  preaching  and  addresses,  I  spend  much 
time  visiting  families,  exhorting  and  counseling  individuals.  In  the 
evening  preached  at  Thomas  Carlin's  from  the  parable  of  the  sower. 
The  people  are  attentive  and  solemn.  Mrs.  Carlin  is  under  deep 
conviction.  (Her  husband  has  already  been  baptized.)  Spent  a 
happy  time  that  night  in  conversation  and  prayer.  The  following 
day  was  spent  in  visiting  the  sick,  and  in  conversing  and  praying 
with  families. 

Lord's-day,  Uli  October.  The  Sunday-school  met  at  the  house 
and  recited  Scripture  lessons.  I  found  four  or  five  of  the  children 
under  serious  impressions.  I  then  preached  from  Philippians  i.  21, 
with  some  humble  confidence  that  God  blessed  the  word.     Keligion 


ITINERANCT— ^LOSS   OF    VALUABLE   PAPERS.  179 

HOW  flourishes  in  the  settlement.  Here  is  distinct  evidence  of  the 
immediate  good  efiPect  of  exertions  to  promote  religion.  Many 
of  the  Baptist  preachers  in  this  country,  in  what  little  doctrine  they 
exhibit,  verge  towards  antinomianism  ;  or  at  least  while  they  pro- 
fess to  contend  for  the  doctrines  of  grace,  they  say  very  little  about 
duty  and  practical  religion.  They  seem  not  to  understand  the  con- 
nection of  means  with  the  end,  and  are  not  usually  inclined  to  make 
exertions  to  promote  religion.  Hence,  the  churches  do  not  increase 
except  by  immigration.  Professors  live  very  carelessly,  and  sinners 
remain  quite  stupid.  It  has  been  more  the  tone  of  my  preaching 
for  some  time  past  to  inculcate  human  obligation  and  stir  up  pro- 
fessors to  pra^'er  and  effort,  and  to  awaken  sinners  from  their 
dreadful  slumberings.  But  my  dependence  for  success  is  alone  on 
God.  Without  the  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  nothing 
will  be  done  effectually. 

The  following  day,  in  company  with  several  persons,  he 
rode  to  the  county-seat,  and  towards  evening  the  court  ad- 
journed (Hon.  John  Reynolds,  judge),  and  he  preached  in 
the  court-room  a  spirit-stirring  discourse  from  Rev.  iii.  20. 

He  just  notices  in  his  journal  that  he  was  about  this  time 
strongly  urged  to  settle  near  Carrolton  with  the  promise  of  a 
liberal  support,  and  he  merely  subjoins  :  "  My  chief  desire  is 
to  be  in  that  place  where  the  Lord  would  have  me."  How 
different  the  results  both  on  his  domestic  happiness  and  the 
welfare  of  the  cause  of  Christ  at  large,  had  he  then  planted 
himself  down  quietly,  and  given  his  chief  labors  to  a  single 
church  and  the  immediate  neighborhood,  from  the  results  of 
a  very  different  course  to  which  he  actually  gave  his  life  1 
There  is  no  wisdom  in  praising  the  one  of  these  plans  at  the 
expense  of  the  other ;  for  God  blesses  both ;  and  every  in- 
dividual ought  to  ascertain  for  which  he  is  best  fitted,  and  act 
accordingly.  It  is  very  certain  that  if  all  ministers  were  to 
wander  as  widely  and  concentrate  their  efforts  as  little  as 
did  our  esteemed  brother,  there  would  be  little  of  stability 
and  real  permanent  progress  in  our  cause.  And  on  the 
contrary,  if  none  gave  themselves  as  ie  did  to  the  general 
care  for  the  welfare  of  the  churches,  the  education  of  the 
ministry,   and  the  supply  of  vast  destitute   regions,  where 


180  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

Bome  one  must  care  for  procuring  the  requisite  ministrations 
of  gospel  truth,  a  great  hindrance  in  general  progress  would 
be  the  inevitable  result.  Bj  the  stationary  policy  he  woula 
probably  have  suffered  less,  and  his  family  would  have  en- 
joyed much  more.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  to  himself  at 
least  the  compensations  in  various  ways  brought  about  by  his 
wide  range  and  multifarious  labors,  were  not  generally  rc' 
munerative,  so  that  his  gain,  intellectual  and  moral,  was  as 
great  as  his  loss.  The  suggestion  of  this  comparison  almost 
forces, itself  on  one's  mind  in  connection  with  this  overture 
from  the  good  people-in  Carrolton  and  vicinity  to  monopolize 
such  a  man.  It  was  not  the  will  of  Providence  that  he  should 
then  and  there  sit  down  to  luxuriate  in  the  rich  spiritual  en- 
joyments, than  which  God  has  given  no  greater,  growing  out 
of  penning  and  feeding  a  spiritual  fold,  on  which  the  dews  and 
sunshine  of  fructifying  grace  are  abundantly  falling. 

The  very  next  day  after  the  events  narrated  in  the  above 
extracts  from  his  journal,  he  started  early  in  the  morning,  in- 
tending to  reach  Carrolton  to  meet  an  appointment,  but  his 
horse,  from  fright  or  viciousness,  broke  away  from  him  while 
crossing  the  barrens,  and  for  days,  if  not  weeks,"  his  search  for 
him  was  fruitless.  Even  when  the  horse  was  ultimately  re- 
covered, his  loss  in  saddle,  bridle,  overcoat,  and  the  valuable 
contents  of  his  saddle-bags,  was  a  severe  one,  which  it  was 
not  easy  to  repair.  Specially  some  valuable  papers  and 
journals  he  was  never  able  to  make  good  again.  But  how 
characteristic  it  was  of  the  man  that  when  he  had  done  the 
utmost  in  his  power,  that  daj-  and  the  next,  to  recover  the 
fugitive,  in  vain,  he  accidentally  fell  in  company  with  some 
i-mall  boys  gathering  nuts;  and  he  entered  with  such  zest 
into  the  very  spirit  of  their  juvenile  enjoj^ments,  as  planted 
him  deep  in  their  affections  and  sympathies  ever  afterward. 
One  who  was  intimately  acquainted  with  some  of  them  has 
thus  written  of  the  incident  since  the  death  of  this  venerated 
man  : 

In  the  early  years  of  his  missionating  in  Illinois,  he  lost  his  horse, 
with  clothes,  valuable  papers,  and  journals.   He  was  passing  through 


RECOLLECTIONS    BY    MR.  LEMAN.  181 

a  comparatively  unsettled  portion  of  the  country,  and  had  occasion 
to  dismount,  when  his  horse  took  very  sudden  fright  at  himself  or 
at  some  other  object,  and  ran  very  rapidly  away  through  the  bushes 
and  woods  out  of  reach  and  out  of  sight  directly.  He  followed  in 
pursuit  all  that  afternoon,  and  at  night  came  to  a  log-cabin  upon 
the  spot  where  the  tov»-n  of  Manchester  now  is,  in  Morgan  county. 
He  was  there  made  welcome  and  entertained  for  the  night.  The 
friend  in  whose  cabin  he  took  refuge  was  afterwards  Hon.  Judge 
IVEarks,  of  uncommon  powers  of  discernment,  who  became  much 
interested  in  his  guest  from  the  first,  and  regarded  him  with  hfe- 
'asting  affection.  In  the  morning  the  horse-hunt  was  renewed  with 
all  the  help  which  could  be  mustered,  hij^  it  was  unsuccessful. 
Then  as  jovially  as  though  this  had  been  the  very  object  of  his 
visit,  he  joined  the  boys  in  picking  up  some  fine  large  nuts,  as  they 
returned ;  and  in  the  evening  he  was  found  seated  flat  on  the 
oroad  hearth-stones  of  the  cabin,  as  one  with  the  boys,  cracking 
and  eating  nuts,  and  entertaining  the  wondering  family  with  lively 
anecdotes  one  after  another,  of  which  he  seemed  to  them  to  have 
a  marvelous  supply.  I  have  this  story  from  the  Judge's  own 
mouth  and  from  the  sons  also.  This  kind  of  buoyancy  of  spirit 
and  versatiHty  of  powers  gave  him  immense  influence  among  the 
people  wherever  his  lot  was  cast. 

The  same  individual  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  record 
of  the  above  incident  (Benjamin  F.  Lemen,Esq.,  a  lawyer  of 
Salem,  HI.)  gives  also  the  following  incidents,  illustrative 
of  this  period  of  Mr.  Peck's  life  and  labors  : 

I  well  remember  the  night  when  I  first  heard  him  preach,  and 
just  where  he  stood  in  my  father's  dwelling  (there  were  no  meeting- 
houses then).  His  missionary  life  was  at  that  time  all  before  him. 
Fresh  from  the  exalting  society  of  Dr.  Staughton,  full  of  zeal  and 
high  with  hope,  he  rose  with  a  smiling  countenance,  and  opening 
the  blessed  book,  he  cast  his  eyes  over  the  congregation  and  said  : 
**  I  am  going  to  preach  to  the  young  people,  and  if  there  is  any- 
body who  doesn't  care  about  the  subject,  or  is  too  old  and  sleepy 
to  hear — why  it  will  make  no  difference  to  me,  I  shall  preach  just 
the  same."  This  remark  was  so  peculiar  and  striking  as  to  arrest 
every  one's  attention  at  once.  His  subject  was  the  cnicifixion. 
With  affecting  simplicity  and  solemnity  he  described  the  cross,  and 
portrayed  the  darkness  and  all  the  horrors  of  the  scene  of  the  Cal- 
vary tragedy.  He  dwelt  upon  the  incalculable  value  of  the  soul 
of  man,  as  evinced  by  the  infinite  cost  of  our  salvation. 
16 


182  JIEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.   PECK. 

He  was  then  young.  His  full,  smiling,  open  visage,  his  clear, 
musical  voice  and  soul-stirring  earnestness  made  his  discourses 
produce  a  powerful  effect  upon  all ;  and  this  first  one,  as  well  as 
several  others  about  that  time,  by  many  of  us  can  never  be  forgotten. 

AVhen  he  first  came  to  Illinois,  he  was  opposed  and  bitterly  per- 
secuted in  some  of  his  missionary  efforts  and  other  undertakings. 
But  his  every-day  walk,  and  general  gentlemanly  deportment,  con- 
verted many  of  the  crusty  old  Baptists,  who  had  tried  at  first  to 
oppose  him,  and  some  of  them  became  his  Avarmest  friends.  The 
first  show  of  friendship  from  one  of  them  was  on  the  occasion  of 
the  marriage  of  one  of  the  family,  when  Brother  Peck  was  chosen 
as  the  mastey-  of  ceren^nies.  A  frank  confession  was  made,  and 
fifty  dollars  were  tendered  him,  as  some  offset  to  past  opposition. 
We  all  know  that  for  a  long  series  of  years  his  house  at  Eock  Spring 
was  a  church  and  a  missionary  station — the  place  of  constant  resort 
for  great  and  learned  men,  and  specially  for  ministers  of  all  de- 
nominations on  first  coming  into  the  country.  He  was  afi'able  and 
friendly  to  all,  and  a  remarkably  kind  neighbor  to  every  new-comer 
that  removed  into  his  vicinity.  He  was  a  little  eccentric  in  some 
of  his  manners,  quite  comely  in  his  appearance,  and  carefully  neat 
in  his  apparel ;  but  not  ostentatious  in  either  the  one  or  the  other. 

Another  illustrative  anecdote  from  the  same  authentic  source, 
though  belonging  to  a  little  later  period,  may  rightly  enough 
be  introduced  here,  as  it  was  doubtless  characteristic  of  the 
man  on  various  similar  occasions  : 

1  once  saw  him,  about  the  time  of  the  founding  of  the  Rock 
Spring  Seminary,  in  a  large  company  of  opposers,  who  at  a  big 
meeting  took  the  opportunity  to  array  themselves  in  company  and 
oppose  him  jointly,  to  show  him  his  mfatuation  I  At  that  period, 
he  was  a  great  smoker  ;  and  M'hile  they  were  talking,  he  hghted  his 
pipe,  and  got  up  the  smoke  !  Then  when  they  had  about  exhausted 
their  stores  of  opposition,  he  straitened  himself  up  before  them, 
and  laid  out  his  arguments  in  order  to  them,  as  with  quickened 
puflfs  he  sent  forth  the  smoke,  and  with  deliberateness  and  energy 
he  set  forth  his  whole  plan  and  object,  and  then  awakened  their 
philanthropy  and  silenced  all  their  cavil  by  bold  and  earnest  prophe- 
sying what  would  come  of  it.  'J'hus,  on  all  such  occasions,  doubts 
were  dissipated  and  opposition  silenced,  and  so  the  good  work  went 
on  and  triumphed. 


OPPOSITION   TO   MISSIONARIES  a  83 


CHAPTER  XT 


Bible  Societies    in    Illinois — Domestic  Missions — Green,   tlie    Mur 
derer — First  Sundaj'-scliool  Societies  in  the  West. 

The  closing  months  of  the  year  1823,  with  the  beginning 
of  the  following  year,  were  filled  up  actively  and  usefully  in 
the  various  preaching  tours  which  Mx-  Peck  took,  both  in 
Illinois  and  Missouri.  In  the  former  State,  particularly,  he 
just  now  witnessed  an  increased  and,  as  he  feared,  an  implac- 
able opposition,  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  ministers, 
especiall}^,  to  all  missionary  endeavors,  which  much  grieved 
and  perplexed  him.  We  give  a  few  extracts  from  his  journal, 
indicating  his  experiences,  both  merciful  and  disquieting : 

Friday,  Ododer  31st.  This  is  my  birthday  :  thirty-four  years  of 
my  life  are  fled.  It  deserves  remark  that  every  year  seems  to  fly 
away  more  rapidly  as  I  advance.  The  last  year  of  my  life  has  been 
free  from  domestic  affliction.     Praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness. 

November  1st  Eode  to  St.  Louis,  and  at  night  attended  chnrch- 
meeting  with  the  blacks.  Each  one  conversed  on  the  religious 
state  of  their  minds,  and  I  gave  them  advice. 

Lord's-day,  2nd.  Very  cold  weather.  In  the  morning  I  preached 
from  the  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus.  Solemn  attention.  Some 
affected.  Afternoon,  preached  again,  from  "Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God,"  etc.  In  the  evening  I  addressed  the  blacks  from  the  Lord's 
prayer  with  much  feeling  and  good  effect.  My  mind  is  much  led 
out  to  God,  and  I  feel  resolved  to  be  more  circumspect,  and  more 
engaged  in  private  devotion.     Oh,  for  grace  and  strength  ! 

I  have  lately  learned,  much  to  my  disappointment,  that  the 
new  association  up  the  IDinois  river  [the  Sangamon,  probably] 
has  made  a  rule  to  debar  missionaries  from  a  seat.  Several  of  the 
friends  of  missions  were  prevented  by  sickness  from  attending  at 
its  formation,  hence  this  untoward  result.  Oh,  tell  it  not  in  Gath. 
There  is  a  regular  conspiracy  formed  in  the  Illinois,  to  put  down 
missionaries.  The  root  of  all  this  opposition  is  from  the  preachers. 
They  fear  losing  their  influence,  which  must  be  small  indeed. 


184  MEMOIR   or   JOHN   M.    PECK. 

After  MTiting  the  above,  I  searched  for  and  read  my  "  Secret 
Diary"  of  1815  and  181G,  in  Avhich  I  solemnly  pledged  myself  in 
covenant  with  God  to  submit  to  all  the  trials  of  a  missionary  life ; 
and  particularly  to  have  my  motives  impeached  and  ray  name  cast 
out  as  evil.  It  is  my  sincere  desire  not  to  harbor  a  particle  of  ill 
will  toward  those  who  oppose  and  persecute  me  •  but  to  cherish 
great  desires  for  their  salvation.  To  the  grace  of  God  be  all  the 
praise,  that  I  have  not  felt  much  irritation  of  mind  at  what  has 
taken  place,  and  what  my  enemies  are  disposed  to  do.  I  grieve, 
however,  to  think  of  the  injury  they  are  inflicting  on  the  cause  of 
the  dear  Eedeemer. 

November  oth.  My  mind  this  evening  has  been  much  occupied 
on  the  subject  of  making  some  more  efficient  exertions  to  promote 
the  Bible  Society,  by  ascertaining,  in  the  first  place,  the  exact 
state  of  destitution  in  this  county.  While  reading  the  Seventh 
Annual  Report  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  my  mind  has  been 
all  aglow  with  desire  for  the  full  accomplishment  of  the  noble  work 
aimed  at. 

This  is  the  first  intimation  we  have  found,  in  a  careful 
examination  of  his  journals  and  letters,  of  special  interest  in 
this  subject,  which  afterwards  occupied  so  much  of  his  time 
and  labors.  A  two-fold  motive  might  very  appropriately 
lead  him  at  just  this  crisis  to  entertain  with  favor  some  effort 
of  this  kind.  In  the  first  place,  there  was  palpable  evidence 
of  much  need  of  Bibles  and  Testaments  in  families  and 
schools ;  and  then  again  he  could  readily  see  that  it  would  be 
more  difficult  for  the  opponents  of  all  those  evangelizing 
efforts  with  which  his  mission  was  identified,  to  oppose  the 
diffusion  of  God's  word,  than  any  other  form  of  evangeliza- 
tion. Hence  the  Avisdom  of  beginning  on  this  impregnable 
ground,  and  exercising  the  intelligence  and  the  benevolence 
of  the  churches  on  this  branch  of  evangelical  effort,  that  by 
exorcise  it  might  be  strengthened  and  expanded,  and  thus  be 
less  exposed  to  be  carried  away  by  such  anti-mission  preju- 
dices as  were  now  artfull}^  excited  among  the  ignorant  and 
the  selfish. 

Twenty  days  later  the  following  occurs  in  his  journal : 


FORMATION   OF   BIBLE   SOCIETIES.  185 

For  some  time  I  have  had  many  thoughts  about  undertaking  an 
agency  to  form  Bible  societies,  and  thus  endeavor  to  promote  the 
gospel  in  this  country,  by  a  more  general  circulation  of  the 
Scriptures.  My  greatest  desire  is  to  pursue  that  course  which  will 
most  speedily  and  effectually  pave  the  way  to  more  s^^stcmatic  and 
enlarged  efforts  to  promote  the  kingdom  of  a  dear  Redeemer. 

The  middle  of  the  following  month,  on  occasion  of  forming 
the  Greene  County  Auxiliary  Bible  Society  in  Illinois,  and  the 
second  at  Edwardsville  for  Madison  county,  he  says,  "  I  have 
no  doubt  but  this  will  be  a  death-blow  to  opposition  to 
missionaries  in  this  quarter." 

We  have  been  the  more  careful  to  fortify  this  view  from 
his  own  recorded  statements  and  convictions  at  the  time  ;  be- 
cause it  fully  redeems  the  polic}^  he  was  pursuing  from  any 
thing  like  fickleness.  He  was  a  missionary  with  his  whole 
heart,  but  when  he  thought  the  very  cause  of  missions  could 
for  the  time  be  better  promoted  by  his  turning  to  the  work 
of  establishing  Bible  societies,  he  could  not  hesitate  to 
become  an  agent  for  this  object. 

Soon  after  his  first  successful  demonstration  in  this  work — 
distributing  the  Scriptures,  and  awakening  interest  in  behalf 
of  the  object,  getting  individuals  of  chief  standing  and  in- 
fluence to  pledge  him  their  aid,  and  preaching  frequently  on 
this  theme,  and  forming  two  county  societies  and  taking 
measures  for  a  third — he  accepted  an  agency  from  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society  to  further  prosecute  this  important  work. 
The  records  of  this  memorable  year  may  be  appropriately 
closed  with  his  report  to  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Society,  setting  forth  in  a  summary  manner  his  labors, 
and  the  plan  on  which  they  were  prosecuted. 

Rock  Spring,  St.  Clair  County,  III. 
Deceniher  '6ld,  1823. 
Rev.  and  Dear  Sir  : — In  pursuing  my  labors  in  the  missionary 
service,  it  has  been  an  important  object  with  me  to  enHst  as 
many  laborers  in  the  vineyard  as  circumstances  would  admit.  To 
effect  this  I  have  ranged  over  a  much  wider  field,  and  kept  my  eye 
upon  a  greater  number  of  objects  than  would  have  been  useful  had 


186  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

I  aimed  merely  for  the  immediate  success  of  my  own  labors.  It 
affords  me  satisfaction  to  state  that  the  advantage  of  this  course 
is  now  apparent.  A  part  of  my'  former  field  in  Missouri,  and 
particularly  the  church  in  Bon-homme,  is  now  partially  supplied 
by  the  labors  of  Brother  Holmes,  whom  I  formerly  mentioned  as 
a  student.  By  another  arrangement,  partly  effected  through  my 
instrumentality,  a  valuable  brother  by  the  name  of  Lewis  Williams 
is  enabled  to  devote  much  of  his  time  in  Franklin  county,  and  the 
adjacent  settlements.  Latterly  I  have  taken  some  steps  to  enable 
a  venerable  father  in  the  gospel  by  the  name  of  Sweet  to  travel 
some  portion  of  his  time  in  the  upper  counties  of  Illinois,  and  I 
hope  to  aid  in  providing  means  whereby  a  Brother  Crane,  who 
is  soon  to  be  ordained  at  Carrolton,  will  be  hberated  so  as  to 
perform  some  itinerant  service.  Two  or  three  other  preachers 
have  been  aided  in  profitable  studies  through  the  medium  of 
correspondence.  Still  a  majority  of  those  called  preachers  of  the 
Illinois  Association  may  be  regarded  as  opposed  to  missionaries, 
missions,  and  every  active  systematic  measure  to  promote  the 
gospel  amongst  the  destitute. 

Having  long  known  that  multitudes  of  families  in  this  country 
are  destitute  of  the  Scriptures,  and  having  deeply  felt  the  import- 
ance of  active  measures  for  a  wider  circulation  of  the  Bible,  I  pro- 
vided myself  from  the  Missouri  Bible  Society  with  a  quantity  of 
Bibles,  Testaments,  annual  reports,  and  monthly  extracts  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  together  with  a  large  assortment  of 
missionary  pamphlets,  tracts,  etc.,  and  started  for  the  upper 
counties  in  this  State  on  the  8th  inst.  My  chief  object  was  to 
convey  intelligence  of  the  successful  efforts  now  making  to  pro- 
mote religion  amongst  men.  At  Edwardsville  I  called  on  several 
gentlemen  of  my  acquaintance,^ made  known  my  object,  readily 
engaged  their  co-operation,  and  published  a  meeting  for  Christmas 
day  to  form  a  Bible  society.  Here  I  found  that  a  few  Bibles  here- 
tofore deposited  by  the  Missouri  Bible  Society  had  served  to  dis- 
close the  wants  of  the  public,  and  create  a  thirst  for  more  copies. 
Leaving  ten  copies  of  the  Testament  on  deposit,  and  distributing 
two  annual  reports,  and  a  quantity  of  tracts,  I  departed  for  Carrol 
ton,  where  I  arrived  on  the  12th,  and  the  next  day  attended  the 
meeting  of  the  church,  and  brought  about  an  appointment  for  the 
ordination  of  Brother  Crane,  which  is  to  take  place  in  February. 
1  immediately  wrote  to  influential  men  in  dilFerent  sections  of  the 
county,  and  gave  out  an  appointment  to  form  a  Bible  society  the 
next  night.     Accordingly  a  respectable  and  crowded  audience  met 


REPORT   OF   HIS   LABORS.  187 

in  the  court-house,  to  -whom  I  preached  from  Isaiali  lii.  10,  and 
immediately  following  was  organized  "The  Auxiliar}'^  Bible  Society 
of  Green  County."  The  officers  were  duly  chosen.  A  number  of 
Bibles  and  Testaments  were  deposited  in  the  hands  of  the  mana- 
gers, besides  selling  a  number  to  individuals,  and  distributing  a 
large  number  of  missionary  pamphlets  and  tracts.  Pursuing  my 
route,  I  visited  Morgan  county,  when  I  made  arrangements  to  form 
a  Bible  society  in  February.  The  Sunday-scho  jl  on  Indian  creek 
still  progresses,  and  promises  much  usefulness.  I  j'treached  to  the 
children  as  on  former  occasions,  who  assembled  tor  the  purpose. 

Eeturning  down  the  country,  and  explaining  the  nature  and  design 
of  Bible  societies  and  other  benevolent  institutions  of  the  present 
age  wherever  I  preached,  and  especially  in  Apple  creek  settlement, 
where  I  spent  the  Sabbath  and  addressed  an  unusually  large  con- 
gregation. On  the  22d  instant  I  met  the  managers  of  the  Bible 
society  of  Green  county,  and  suggested  several  useful  ni'^.asures  to 
be  pursued  in  their  incipient  efforts.  On  the  night  of  the  24th  I 
plead  the  Bible  cause  before  a  respectable  assembly  in  Alton,  and 
the  next  day  (25th)  attended  the  proposed  meetfng  in  Edwardsville. 
After  a  discourse  on  the  subject,  the  Auxiliary  Bible  S  ")ciety  of 
Madison  County  was  formed  under  favorable  auspices  and  the  Board 
of  Directors  chosen.  At  evening  I  addressed  the  public  again  on 
the  same  subject,  and  deposited  with  the  managers  a  few  Bibles  and 
Testaments  I  had  remaining.  By  a  little  seasonable  and  prudent 
effort  the  Testament  may  become  a  class-book  in  most  of  the  schools 
in  this  country.  I  succeeded  in  introducing  it  into  five  schools  on 
m}'^  route. 

The  experiment  I  have  made  has  fully  answered  my  most  san- 
guine expectations  of  the  important  advantages  the  cause  would 
derive  in  Bible  societies,  and  the  distribution  of  mission  pamphlets, 
magazines  and  tracts.  A  most  important  service  might  be  rendered 
to  the  cause,  if  the  friends  in  Boston  could  supply  me  with  an  ad- 
ditional quantity  of  the  back  numbers  of  the  magazine,  missionary 
reports,  old  sermons,  tracts,  and  every  thing  of  the  like  description 
for  gratuitous  distribution.  These  should  be  packed  in  a  box  marked 
with  my  name,  the  freight  paid  to  New  Orleans,  consigned  to  some 
merchant  there,  and  directed  to  the  charge  of  A.  Slanner,  St.  Louis. 
I  have  found  the  most  beneficial  effects  result  from  the  distribution 
of  a  few  magazines  or  tracts  after  preaching ;  and  as  the  people  in 
all  the  settlements  seldom  hear  preaching  but  once  in  the  month, 
these  silent  monitors  serve  to  keep  aUve  impressions  and  feeling? 
till  the  return  of  the  preacher. 


188  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

Next  weelv  I  expect  to  visit  Missouri,  and  perform  the  circuit  of 
the  Missouri  Association  lo  carry  into  effect  the  plan  for  itinerant 
preaching  suggested  in  the  last  minutes. 

With  sincerity'-  of  soul  I  can  say  there  is  no  pursuit  that  affords 
such  exquisite  satisfaction  as  activity  and  success  in  measures  to 
promote  the  gospel.  I  might  dwell  upon  the  difficulties  attendant 
on  an  itinerating  life — as  absence  from  home,  exposure  to  sick- 
ness, storms,  cold,  mud,  swimming  rivers,  and  not  unfrequently 
rough  fare — but  these  are  trifles  not  worthy  of  one  moment's  anx- 
ious concern.  To  live  and  labor  for  Him  who  died  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  man  is  the  highest  favor  which  we  need  seek  after  in  this 
transitory  life. 

May  the  God  of  all  grace  still  prosper  the  efforts  of  the  society, 
is  the  prayer  of  your  unworthy  missionary, 

J.  M.  Peck. 

Rev.  Daniel  Shaep. 

P.S. — I  understand  there  is  a  paper  published  by  some  of  the 
Baptist  brethren  in  Boston  called  the  Christian  Watchman.  I  wish 
to  receive  it,  commencing  January  1st,  and  hope  the  Treasurer  of 
the  missionary  society  will  pay  the  subscription  and  charge  the 
same  to  me.  Direct  the  numbers  to  Cherry  Grove  P.O.,  St.  Clair 
county,  111.     Yours,  etc., 

J.  M.  Peck. 

It  was  about  this  time  made  the  painful  duty  of  Mr.  Peck 
to  officiate,  under  very  affecting  circumstances,  at  the  execu- 
tion of  a  murderer.  He  happened  to  be  in  Alton,  111.,  the 
rery  day  of  the  homicide,  December  4th,  1823,  and  on  noticing 
the  excitement  produced,  he  subjoins  the  following  remarks  in 
his  journal :  "  The  state  of  morals  is  truly  deplorable  in 
this  State ;  and  this  does  not  so  much  arise  from  the  general 
depravity  of  the  inhabitants,  as  from  the  dreadful  neglect  (or 
connivance,  as  may  be  feared)  of  the  judiciary,  leading  to  a 
non-execution  of  the  laws  against  crimes.  'No  less  than  six 
ihurders,  or  homicides  in  affrays,  have  been  perpetrated  iu 
nine  months,  and  as  yet  not  one  is  convicted." 

In. this  instance,  however,  the  poor  culprit  was  convicted 
the  14th  of  the  followino-  month,  and  ordered  to  be  executed 
the  12th  of  the  next  month.     He  at  once  applied  to  Mr.  Peck 


BAPTISxM   OF    A   PENITENT   MURDERER.  189 

to  attend  him  at  the  execution  ;  and  before  our  broth(5r  could 
visit  him  in  his  cell,  he  had  professed  to  be  converted,  and  the 
ruraor  was  that  he  desired  baptism.  To  this  Mr.  Peck  felt  the 
strongest  opposition,  supposing  it  would  possibly  tend  to  the 
delusion  of  the  wretched  felon,  and  moreover  might  lessen  the 
salutary  horror  to  be  produced  by  the  just  execution  of  the 
laws,  lie  was  also  full  of  suspicion  of  the  murderer's  sin- 
cerity, and  in  this  unfavorable  state  of  mind  had  his  first 
interview  with  Green  in  his  dungeon.  Much  time  and  very 
thorough  examination  was  devoted  to  his  case,  occupying  the 
4th  and  5tli  of  February.  The  result  was  that  a  very  thor- 
ough conviction  of  the  genuineness  of  his  conversion  w*as 
wrought  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Peck,  and  he  found  his  former 
distrust  and  unbelief  entirely  removed.  The  penitence  and 
humility  of  the  culprit  were  deep  and  thorough.  His  con- 
viction commenced  immediately  after  he  committed  the  atro- 
cious deed.  The  following  notice  of  some  of  the  circum- 
stances of  his  interviews  with  the  murderer  will  be  interesting  : 

Thuksday,  i)th.  Spent  most  of  the  day  with  Green.  Fomid  that 
the  close  talk  that  I  had  with  him  yesterday  produced  much  effect 
upon  his  mind.  He  had  spent  the  whole  night  in  prayer  and  self- 
examination.  He  was  now  composed,  firm  in  his  hope,  deeply 
penitent,  and  the  fear  of  death  was  removed.  The  Wood  river 
church,  with  their  pastor,  the  venerable  Father  Jones,  attended  for 
the  purpose  of  public  worship  with  the  culprit  in  the  prison  ;  and 
Mr.  Peck  preached  from  Luke  xxiii.  39-43 — the  case  of  the  penitent 
thief.  Green  then  related  his  experience,  which  deeply  affected 
every  one  in  the  house.  His  replies  to  ver^^  close,  heart-searching 
questions  put  to  him  were  pertinent  and  satisfactory,  and  he  was 
received  as  a  candidate  for  baptism.  He  was  then  conducted  to  the 
water,  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the  prison,  having  a  small 
(ihain  attached  to  his  leg,  and  a  rope  around  his  body  and  arms 
Avliich  the  sheriff  held.  The  day  was  cold,  and  a  hole  was  cut  in 
the  ice  for  the  administration  of  the  ordinance.  His  baptism  ex- 
cited much  solemnity  and  deep  feeling  amongst  the  people.  To 
baptize  a  murderer,  under  sentence  of  death,  and  who  must  inev- 
itably be  executed  in  one  week,  was  a  novel  thing,  and  what  I  should 
least  thought  of  doing  once  ;  but  in  this  case  I  became  satisfied  that 
it  was  my  dut^-.  and  would  not  shrink  from  it. 


190  MEMOIR   OF    JOHN    M.    PECK. 

The  next  two  days  were  spent  chiefly  in  the  jail  with  Green. 
His  Christian  character  became  more  fully  developed,  and 
Mr.  Peck  could  not  but  regard  him  as  a  monument  of  grace. 
By  the  culprit's  desire  Mr.  Peck  wrote  a  brief  account  of  his 
life,  taken  down  from  his  own  lips,  and  carefully  corrected  by 
himself. 

Loed's-day,  8^/i  February.  The  morning  was  spent  with  Green. 
Ife  is  perfectly  composed — has  no  fear  of  death.  His  hope  seems 
a  solid  and  firm  one,  fomided  on  the  promises  of  the  gospel.  He 
evinces  no  ecstacies,  no  enthusiastic  passions.  The  narrative  of 
his  life  was  read  over  to  him  after  final  revision,  which  he  certified 
and  signed  before  the  three  witnesses  present  for  this  purpose. 

Mr.  Peck  then  left  him  for  three  days,  and  on  returning  to 
him  the  evening  before  his  execution,  he  found  that  Green 
had  experienced  some  trials  and  temptations,  fearing  that  the 
Lord  Avould  not  afford  him  comfort  and  support  in  the  tr3ang 
hour.  Still  his  hoj3e  remained  unshaken  in  Christ.  At  night 
a  prayer-meeting  was  held  in  the  jail.  The  poor  malefactor 
prayed,  confessed,  and  exhorted  the  people,  and  it  was  an 
affecting  time.  Some  present  were  convicted  of  sin,  and 
Mr.  Peck  left  him  at  a  late  hour,  perfectly  composed  and 
happy  in  the  prospect  of  glory.  He  records  iu  his  journal 
his  heartfelt  gratitude  for  the  consolations  which  religion 
affords. 

Thursday,  February  12th.  The  fatal  day  for  Green  has  arrived. 
I  visited  him  early  in  the  morning,  read  the  Scriptures  and  prayed 
with  him,  then  left  him  alone  for  private  devotion.  At  eleven 
o'clock,  he  was  dressed  for  the  gibbet  in  a  white  shroud  trimmed 
with  black,  with  a  cap  on  his  head.  The  guard  forming  a  hollow 
square  around  him,  he  walked  on  with  a  firm  and  steady  s1ep,  ac- 
companied by  the  sheriff  and  chaplain.  He  surveyed  the  imple- 
ments of  death,  and  ascended  the  scaffold  and  seated  himself  on  the 
drop  with  composure.  Two  thousand  spectators  in  deep  and  rev- 
erent silence  were  gathered  around ;  two  or  three  prayers  were 
offered,  and  as  many  appropriate  hymns  sung.  I  then  preached 
the  sermon  from  Ecclesiastes  ix.l2  :  'As  the  fishes  that  are  taken 
in  an  evil  net,  and  as  the  birds  that  are  caught  in  the  snare,  so  are 
the  sons  of  men  snared  in  an  evil  time  when  it  falleth  suddenly 


EXECUTION    OF    GREEN — SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.  191 

upon  them."  I  also  read  his  narrative  and  experience,  which  pro- 
duced a  solemn  effect.  A  great  many  were  in  tears.  The  ministers 
and  the  jailer  and  family  ascended  the  scaffold,  shook  hands  with 
him,  and  bade  him  farewell.  The  sheriff  adjusted  the  rope  and  took 
leave  of  him.  As  he  did  so,  Green  exhorted  him  and  then  the 
people  in  a  few  words,  most  solemnly  and  feehngly.  He  confessed 
the  justice  of  his  sentence,  and  prayed  that  he  might  be  a  salutary 
warning  to  others.  I  then  offered  a  final  prayer  and  read  the  hymn 
I  had  composed  for  the  occasion.     While  the  last  line  was  sung, 

"  I  make  the  signal  for  my  flight," 

the  drop  fell,  and  the  immortal  spirit  took  its  flight. 

The  occasion,  the  prayers,  the  eloquent  addresses,  and  perhaps 
more  than  all,  the  behavior  of  the  sufferer,  impressed  the  behold- 
ers with  solemn  awe.  Never  before  did  I  witness  any  thing  like 
this.  Never  did  I  see  such  proof  of  the  power  and  support  of 
Divine  grace  in  the  awful  hour  of  dissolution.  It  appeared  con- 
vincing to  every  one  that  his  repentance  was  real.  The  effect  on 
the  bystatiders  was  solemnity,  a  consciousness  of  religion,  a  deep 
sense  of  the  heinous  crime  of  murder,  and  the  nature  of  justice  as 
being  but  a  modification  of  goodness. 

The  following  Lord's-day  Mr.  Peck  presided  at  the  council, 
and  aided  in  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Crane,  a  licentiate  in  the 
Carrolton  church.  He  then  the  following  evening  repeated 
the  execution-sermon,  and  read  part  of  Green's  experience 
and  narrative  to  a  crowded  congregation  in  the  court-house  at 
Carrolton.  Returning  to  Edwardsville  to  put  the  sermon  and 
narrative  to  press,  he  was  gratified  in  finding  that  some  had 
already  been  awakened  and  converted  by  means  of  them  ;  and 
the  same  thing  is  once  or  twice  noticed  subsequently  in  his 
journal.  The  pamphlet  containing  both  sermon  and  narrative 
was  widely  circulated  at  the  time,  but  the  writer  has  not  been 
able  to  find  a  copy. 

The  following  month  he  records  having  attended  by  invita- 
tion the  session  of  the  Presbytery  at  St.  Louis,  where  one 
candidate  was  examined  for  licensure  and  another  for  ordina- 
tion. He  was  much  edified  and  instructed  during  the  session. 
The  harmony  which  prevailed,  and  the  spirit  of  real  religion 
among  the  members  were  most  cheering.     Near  the  end  of 


192  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

the  month  he  mentions  reading  the  sermon  on  the  moral  dig- 
nity of  the  missionary  enterprise  by  Dr.  Wayland.  How 
widely  the  aims  of  its  author  were  now  being  realized  at  home 
and  abroad  ! 

In  April,  w^hile  attending  the  first  anniversary  of  the  Greene 
County  Bible  Society,  he  availed  himself  of  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity to  preach  at  the  county-seat  on  the  importance  of 
Sunday-schools,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  few  zealous  spirits  a 
Sunday-school  society  for  the  county  was  also  formed.  The 
following  notice  of  this  movement  occurs  in  his  journal,  and 
is  noteworthy  as  one  of  the  first  records  of  what  afterwards 
engrossed  much  of  his  time  and  energies  : 

It  is  my  intention  to  form  a  number  of  county  societies,  and  then 
concentrate  their  efforts  in  a  general  union  of  Sabbath-schools. 
These  wkli  the  Bible  institutions  may  be  employed  to  exert  a  most 
powerful  influence  through  this  Western  country,  and  will  silently 
undermine  the  prejudices  against  missions  more  than  any  thing 
else.  By  the  agency  appointment  which  I  have  lately  received,  I 
shall  be  enabled  (if  health  and  success  are  allowed)  to  do  more  for 
the  advancement  of  religion  than  I  ever  anticipated." 

This,  be  it  remembered,  was  more  than  a  year  before  the 
formation  of  the  American  Sunday-school  Union  in  Philadel- 
phia. Thus  early  was  God  opening  before  him  paths  of  use- 
fulness and  honor,  which  have  made  his  namfe  so  familiar  and 
distinguished.  On  this  very  occasion,  the  court  adjourned  to 
listen  to  a  sermon  from  him  before  the  Bible  society  and  for 
the  transaction  of  its  annual  business. 

The  w^hole  of  April  and  May  were  spent  by  Mr.  Peck, 
chiefly  in  Southern  and  Central  Illinois,  the  Military  Tract, 
and  the  adjacent  parts  of  Missouri,  jn  indefatigable  efi'orts  to 
awaken  and  increase  an  interest  in  behalf  of  Sunday-schools 
and  Bible  societies.  Frequent  mention  is  found  of  the  apathy, 
the  misconception  and  prejudices  he  had  to  encounter  in  his 
advocacy  of  these  good  objects,  and  affecting  testimonies  of 
the  destitution  which  he  found  so  prevalent.  On  the  whole 
his  success  was  encouraging. 


AFFECTING   INSTANCE   OF   DESTITUTION.  193 

CHAPTER    XYI. 

Destitution  ascertained— Continued  Labors — Opposition  to  Slavery. 

MkPeck's  diary  number  twenty  is  contained  in  a  square 
volume  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pages,  and  covers  a  period 
of  little  more  than  ten  months,  viz.,  from  28th  of  May,  1824, 
to  5th  of  March,  1825.  On  many  accounts  this  was  an  event 
ful  and  useful  period  of  his  life,  though  presenting  few  salient 
points  of  striking  interest.  He  was  going  on  and  on  with 
the  work  described  in  the  last  chapter,  traversing  the  old 
rounds  in  similar  labors  to  those  above  recorded,  and  gradu- 
ally extending  the  field  of  his  explorations  and  labors.  While 
sedulously  careful  to  preach  the  common  salvation  in  all  the 
little  and  destitute  churches  which  he  could  reach,  he  devoted 
on  an  average  one  Sabbath  a  month  to  the  Baptist  interest  in 
St.  Louis,  and  also  made  extensive  tours  through  Central  and 
Southern  Illinois,  and  over  almost  the  entire  State  of  Mis- 
souri lying  south  of  the  Missouri  river,  and  occasionally  north 
of  it.  These  explorations  aimed  at  ascertaining  as  fully  as 
possible  the  want  of  preaching,  of  Bibles,  and  of  Sabbath- 
schools,  in  the  several  settlements,  and  the  facilities  which 
might  be  made  available  for  supplying  these  wants.  Some 
instances  of  destitution  which  fell  under  his  personal  observa- 
tion were  most  affecting.     Here  is  one  instance  : 

19tJi  June,lS24:.  On  my  route,  twelve  miles  from  Brownsville,  I 
called  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Butcher  to  get  directions  in  my  journey. 
The  woman  I  found  to  be  a  Baptist,  who  had  lived  fourteen  years, 
eight  of  which  were  in  this  wilderness,  without  any  religious  privi- 
leges. In  this  time  she  had  heard  but  four  sermons,  two  from 
one  of  her  own  society,  and  he  a  man  not  in  good  standing.  When 
I  told  her  my  profession,  she  was  too  much  affected  with  weeping 
to  speak  for  some  time.  She  then  related  her  trials  and  distresses 
of  soul  for  her  forlorn  state.  She  could  not  read  except  by  slowly 
17 


194  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

spelling  out  the  words  in  her  Testament  and  hymn-book,  and  this 
was  all  the  religious  consolation  she  enjoyed.  Her  children  were 
grooving  up  in  ignorance,  and  this  added  greatly  to  her  sorrows. 
She  would  give  all  she  possessed,  yea,  all  the  world  if  she  had  it,  to 
be  reinstated  in  the  same  privileges  she  had  once  enjoyed.  It 
may  be  asked :  "  Why  did  she  not  return  to  Carolina,  whence  she 
had  emigrated,  or  to  some  more  favored  settlement?"  She  was  the 
wife  of  a  husband  who  had  chosen  his  residence  here  for  the  advan- 
tages of  stock-raising ;  had  improved  a  large  plantation,  and  chose 
to  remain.  She  was  the  mother  of  a  large  family  of  children,  and 
leaving  them  and  her  husband  was  impossible.  Nor  is  this  case  a 
singular  one.  But  could  I  portray  the  real  feelings,  and  the  simple 
but  energetic  cry  of  this  wanderer  from  Christ's  fold;  could  I  lay- 
all  her  woes  and  all  her  secret  sighs  before  an  opposer  of  missions  ; 
I  would  say  to  him ;  "  Here  is  an  instance  of  the  fruit  of  your 
criminal  opposition.  You  would  tear  from  the  heart  of  this  forlorn 
lamb  of  Christ  all  the  consolation  she  ever  enjoyed  in  these  years 
of  wearisome  pilgrimage,  in  the  visit,  prayers,  and  instructions  of 
a  missionary.  You  would  tear  from  her  the  last  hope  of  her  de- 
clining age,  the  hope  of  benefit  to  her  children  from  the  pious 
labors  of  some  herald  of  the  Cross,  who  in  his  excursions  might 
alight  at  her  cottage,  bearing  the  message  of  redeeming  love." 
After  instruction,  and  commending  her  to  God,  I  took  my  leave  of 
herself  and  family. 

At  Kaskaskia  he  formed  a  female  auxiliary  Bible  society 
of  some  twenty  members  under  circumstances  of  interest  and 
hopefulness,  a  pious  Quakeress  being  made  President,  with 
whom  he  formed  a  pleasant  acquaintance.  In  the  end  of 
June  he  notices  seeing  in  the  newspapers  an  account  of  the 
formation  of  the  American  Sunday-school  Union,  Philadelphia, 
and  immediately  entered  into  correspondence  with  it,  giving 
the  facts  he  had  gathered  in  the  vast  region  over  which  he 
was  traveling.  He  notices  also  the  preparation  of  a  sermon 
in  favor  of  the  colonization  Society  which  he  preached  the 
4th  of  July.  Thus  early  was  his  heart  opening  to  every  good 
enterprise  for  the  bond  and  the  free.  During  this  year  also 
there  are  incidental  notices  in  his  journal  of  the  great  question, 
then  being  covertly  agitated  in  Southern  Illinois  especially,  in 
regard  to  calling  a  conv^ention  of  the  State  for  remodeling  the 


SLAVERY   IN    ILLINOIS   DEFEATED.  195 

constitution  so  as  to  admit  of  slavery  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  a  deep-laid  plan  Avas  formed  for  securing  the  consumma- 
tion of  this  scheme.  The  legislature  the  preceding  winter 
had  opened  the  way  for  the  calling  of  such  a  convention, 
though  the  real  object  of  it  was  skilfully  veiled.  Governor 
Coles,  a  Yirginian,  who  had  emigrated  to  this  free  territory, 
relying  on  the  inviolability  of  the  ordinance  of  '81,  and  had 
brought  with  him  the  patrimony  of  slaves  from  his  father's 
estate  which  he  inherited,  on  purpose  to  settle  them  eligibly 
in  freedom,  was  now  fortunately  in  the  executive  chair,  and 
to  his  commanding  and  consistent  influence  it  was  no  doubt 
principally  owing,  that  this  stealthy  movement  of  the  advo- 
cates of  hereditary  bondage  was  thoroughly  circumvented, 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Peck,  who  shared  the  Gov- 
ernor's intimate  acquaintance  and  confidence,  shared  with  him 
also  the  sentiments  above  expressed,  and  in  a  quiet,  unob- 
trusive manner  aided,  so  far  as  he  properly  could,  in  bringing 
about  this  result.  But  it  is  not  true  that  he  traversed  the 
State,  under  cover  of  his  commission  as  a  missionary  and 
a  Bible  agent,  but  really  as  an  emissary  opposed  to  the  pro- 
posed convention.  He  seems  on  the  contrary  to  have  pru- 
dently guarded  his  whole  deportment,  so  as  not  to  be  obnox- 
ious to  censure  in  this  respect.  However  deeply  he  may  have 
felt  as  a  citizen,  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  made  himself  a 
partisan.  Against  ministers  of  the  gospel  doing  this  he  al- 
ways raised  his  voice  and  wielded  his  pen.  And  though,  on 
the  defeat  of  the  above  measure,  some  of  its  too  warm  advo- 
cates were  inclined  to  censure  him,  and  he  notices  in  a  few 
instances  the  unkindness  and  injustice  of  their  treatment,  yet 
in  the  end  all  the  more  considerate  and  trustworthy  became 
convinced  of  the  erroneousness  of  their  suspicions,  and  re- 
stored to  him  the  full  measure  of  their  confidence.  This 
result  was  no  doubt  all  the  earlier  secured,  because,  when  the 
hallucination  of  the  moment  had  passed  away,  all  parties 
seem  to  have  rested  satisfied  of  the  fact  that  the  best  result 
had  been  secured.  A  quarter  of  a  century  later,  when  Mr. 
Peck  edited  the  second  edition  of  the  "Annals  of  the  West," 


196  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

it  is  correctly  stated  as  the  summing-up  of  this  matter :  "Id 
six  months  after  the  question  [of  calling  a  convention]  was 
settled,  a  politician  who  was  in  favor  of  the  introduction  of 
slavery  into  the  State  was  a  rarity." 

This  is  the  verdict  of  an  impartial  and  somewhat  remate 
review  of  these  transactions.  But  at  the  time,  and  when  so 
many  causes  w^ere  conspiring  to  unite  all  elements  of  opposi- 
tion against  our  brother,  as  the  staunch  advocate  of  whatever 
was  enlightened,  benevolent,  and  patriotic,  it  was  a  compara- 
tively easy  thing  to  load  him  with  obloquy  for  his  sentiments 
on  this  subject.  Public  attacks  of  a  scurrilous  and  perfectly 
baseless  character  were  sometimes  sent  forth  against  him  in 
the  newspapers.  To  some  of  these  he  replied  in  a  temperate 
but  decided  and  manly  denial  of  the  allegations,  and  a  fearless 
demand  for  any  proof  to  sustain  the  assault.  He  remarks  in 
his  diary  that  to  some  extent  these  very  attacks,  by  rendering 
him  more  famous,  drew  towards  him  more  of  the  attention  of 
the  public,  and  gave  him  ampler  opportunity  to  advocate  Tt^ith 
success  the  great  objects  to  which  his  heart  and  life  were  de- 
voted— missions,  the  diffusion  of  the  Bible,  and  the  vigorous 
support  of  Sunday-schools.  In  a  very  few  instances,  however, 
he  had  occasion  to  lament  the  alienation  of  some  of  his  former 
friends  on  this  account.  He  mourned  over  their  misconcep- 
tions, and,  in  a  kind  and  fraternal  manner,  used  the  best  means 
in  his  power  to  disabuse  their  minds  of  the  prejudices  they 
had  entertained.  So  far  as  this  was  merely  personal,  he 
seems  to  have  been  willing  to  bear  this  obloquy  and  aliena- 
tion ;  but  where,  as  in  many  cases,  it  affected  injuriously  the 
cause  of  his  Divine  Master,  dearer  to  him  than  life,  he  was 
deeply  grieved  with  the  spirit  and  the  opposition  which  it 
stirred  up  against  him. 

His  growth  in  grace  and  in  knowledge,  as  a  Christian 
minister,  appears  to  have  fully  kept  pace  with  the  celebrity 
which  unsought  was  widely  extending  his  influence.  At  this 
period  he  certainly  watched  over  his  heart,  his  spirit,  his 
entire   deportment  with   scrupulous   fidelity      He   thus   ex- 


SPIRITUAL   CONFLICTS — STUDY  OF   THE   BIBLE,  197 

presses  himself  on  hearing  of  the  death  of  a  minister  who 
had  injured  him  : 

Though  for  three  years  past  he  has  tried  to  injure  me,  I  have  freely 
forgiven  him  ;  and  I  feel  thankful  that  I  treated  him  with  the  respect 
due  to  his  age,  at  the  last  Missouri  Association.  Let  all  that  has 
been  unpleasant  be  buried  in  the  dust  and  forgotten. 

In  case  of  another  professed  minister,  with  whom  he  and 
his  associate,  Rev.  Mr.  Welch,  had  much  difficulty  years 
before,  and  who  had  been  held  up  by  decisions  of  churches 
and  associations  against  the  full  proofs  they  had  adduced  of 
his  unworthiness,  when  now  at  length  he  was  demonstrating 
beyond  all  question  his  flagitious  character,  the  journal  says, 
evidently  coming  from  the  writer's  heart,  "Oh,  that  Divine 
mercy  might  reclaim  him  !"  On  detecting  in  his  own  mind 
the  frequent  and  painful  recurrence  of  doubts  on  some  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  spiritual  religion,  he  thus  remarks 
as  to  what  he  feared  was  his  culpability  as  the  cause: 

My  neglect  of  secret  devotion,  and  failure  to  cultivate  the  humihty 
of  soul  and  close  walk  with  God,  which  ought  to  be  maintained,  under 
all  circumstances,  is  probably  the  cause  of  these  doubts.  Amidst 
a  multiplicity  of  business,  which  though  not  chiefly  of  a  worldly 
character,  yet  proves  a  temptation  for  relaxation  in  more  spiritual 
and  heavenly  engagements,  I  find  myself  prone  to  depart  from  the 
living  God.  In  too  many  instances  my  pulpit  services  are  destitute 
of  the  life  of  religion.  To  this  I  must  add  the  levity  of  my  con- 
versation. There  is  a  constitutional  tendency  in  me  to  hilarity  of 
spirits  which  is  frequently  indulged  beyond  the  bounds  of  propriety, 
and  on  reflection  induces  me  to  exclaim,  "  Who  shall  deliver  me 
from  this  dead  body  ?" 

In  the  same  spirit,  when  he  had  been  obliged  by  public 
duties  to  spend  a  few  days  at  the  seat  of  government,  and 
mingle  very  freely  with  the  influential  men  from  different 
parts  of  the  State,  he  records  his  estimate  of  the  influence 
of  such  association  :  "  I  find  them  not  good  for  the  soul." 

As  a  means  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  improvement,  he 


198  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M,  PECK. 

records  some  experiments  whicli  lie  made  in  systematic  study- 
ing of  the  Divine  word,  even  while  traveling.  The  follow- 
ing notice  of  such  efforts  occurs  in  his  diary,  and  will  be  read 
with  interest : 

Saturday,  9th  October,  1824.  Started  on  my  way  to  Columbia. 
For  some  weeks  I  have  felt  a  growing  attachment  to  reading  the 
word  of  God  critically.  I  have  gone  through  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  in  the  most  careful  and  minute  manner,  observing  every 
expression,  and  sometimes  dwelling  for  two  or  three  hours  upon  a 
single  chapter.  This  has  vastly  increased  a  thii-st  for  a  more  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  sacred  volume.  I  can  read  while  riding 
horseback,  by  the  help  of  sim-glasses  which  I  generally  use.  My 
method  is  to  implore  the  unction  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  I  may 
understand  the  portion  I  am  about  to  study ;  and  then  commence 
and  dwell  on  each  verse,  observing  the  connection  till  I  can  catch 
what  appears  to  be  the  distinct  idea  of  the  writer  ;  often  looking  back 
and  examining  the  part  I  have  gone  over,  and  connecting  it  with 
w^hat  follows.  If  a  verse  or  sentence  is  not  clear  at  first,  I  endeavor  to 
fix  my  mind  on  the  passage  with  the  utmost  intensity,  and  ina  httle 
time  I  generally  find  the  obscurity  vanish,  and  clear,  definite  idea? 
present  themselves.  Passages  remaining  obscure,  on  which  I  can 
not  satisfy  myself,  I  mark  with  a  pencil,  for  examination  with  th^' 
best  helps  I  may  afterwards  find  accessible.  This  method  of  study 
ing  the  sacred  oracles  is  both  instructive  and  comforting.  I  know 
a  little  of  what  the  pious  Psalmist  means  in  saying  the  words  of 
God  were  sweet  to  his  taste,  yea  sweeter  than  honey  or  the  honey 
comb. 

In  the  same  connection  he  laments  the  indisposition  of 
some  preachers  to  study  the  letter  of  Divine  truth,  making 
extravagant  claims  to  being  led  by  the  Spirit. 

An   old  minister  named  H ,   famous  for  allegorizing,  thus 

noticed  the  plagues  in  Egypt,  and  the  success  of  her  magicians  in 
imitating  some  of  the  miracles  of  Moses,  but  could  not  produce 
the  lice.  "  These  lice,"  he  said,  "  signified  the  grace  of  God  in  the 
soul.  Now,"  said  he,  "  as  you  c^n  feel  these  httle  animals,"  suiting 
the  action  to  the  word  he  here  scratched  his  head,  "but  cannot 
see  them,  so  you  cannot  see  the  grace  of  God,  but  you  can  feel  it." 
Such  idle,  ridiculous  and   disgusting  comparisons  are  frequently 


PREJUDICE   AGAINST   BAPTISTS.  199 

made  ;  and  such  preachers,  by  hidicrous  and  antic  gestures,  and  a 
drawling  voice,  can  often  raise  a  laugh  among  their  hearers.  Thus 
religion  becomes  ridiculous,  and  excites  contempt  among  sensible, 
well-informed  men.  These  too  often  fly  off  to  deism  and  atheism, 
imagining  all  religion  to  be  folly.  The  cause  of  this  may  be 
mainly  traced  to  putting  ignorant  persons  into  the  ministry,  and 
encouraging  them  to  preach  without  study.  0  Lord,  deliver  Zion 
from  such  evils ! 

Sow  incessantly,  in  all  his  jonrneyings,  our  brother  was 
laying  under  contribution  all  his  opportunities  for  learning 
human  nature  may  be  seen  by  the  following  item  of  his 
journal : 

While  journeying  in  settlements  where  I  am  not  known,  I  fre 
quently  call  at  houses,  and  in  a  roundabout  way  introduce  thi 
subject  of  religion,  and  in  this  way  find  out  the  views  which  differ 
ent  denominations  entertain  of  each  other.  They  w^ill  converse* 
more  freely  and  I  can  get  a  better  insight  into  their  charac 
ter  than  if  my  calling  were  suspected.  To-day  I  called  on  a 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  family  to  inquire  the  road,  and  soon  fell 
into  conversation  with  a  woman.  She  represented  the  Baptists  as 
believing  that  God  had  foreordained  a  certain  part  of  mankind  to 
be  saved,  and  the  rest  to  be  damned ;  and  that  it  would  do  no 
good  for  us  to  attempt  to  do  any  thing  till  God  did  all  the 
work.  She  also  said  they  believed  no  other  society  could  be  saved, 
because  they  were  not  baptized.  It  is  astonishing  how  much 
honest,  well-meaning  people  will  mistake  each  other  through  preju- 
dice and  prepossession.  I  find  there  is  but  little  difference  in  the 
strength  and  prevalence  of  their  prejudices,  however  they  m«ay 
differ  in  other  respects.  The  absurdity  of  all  this  is  the  more 
striking  when  it  is  seen  with  what  eagerness  they  will  receive 
members  from  each  other's  society,  and  what  anxiety  is  manifested 
for  proselyting. 

His  Bible  and  Sunday-school  labors  especially  brought 
him  into  close  contact  with  all  denominations,  and  taught  him 
important  lessons  of  true,  wide-reaching  charity.  Entertained 
as  the  welcome  guest  by  the  good  of  all  denominations,  how 
could  he  fail  to  love  the  good  among  them  all.  Speaking 
of  a  worthy  Methodist  family  who  had  cordially  received 
him,  he  says  : 


200  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

I  was  received  as  kindly  as  I  could  have  been  in  any  Baptist 
family.  Experience  has  taught  me  that  it  is  wretched  policy  for 
the  different  sects  in  religion  to  oppose  each  other.  As  the  late 
excellent  Dr.  Ward  observes,  *'  There  is  much  trash  cleaving  to  us 
all."  Christians  can  love  each  other,  and  provoke  to  good  works 
without  sanctioning  a  particle  of  error,  or  relinquishing  a  particle 
of  truth.  I  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  liberal  policy 
which  I  have  observed  for  months  past  has  had  good  effect. 

To  which  we  may  safely  subjoin,  it  certainly  had  a  good 
effect  on  himself,  as  it  always  does  on  every  true  disciple  of 
Christ.  It  need  not  rendei  him  indifferent  to  points  of  im- 
portance held  by  each  family  of  the  Lord's  people.  That  it 
did  not  in  the  present  instance  is  demonstrated  by  the  follow- 
ing account  which  he  gives  of  a  camp-meeting  of  the 
Methodists  and  Cumberland  Presbyterians  in  Missouri  which 
he  attended,  and  of  ^vhich  he  furnishes  the  following  account : 

At  evening  of  the  last  day  I  heard  a  young  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian attempt  to  preach  from  1  Pet.  i.  8.  He  was  a  young  hand 
and  made  out  but  poorly.  A  Mr.  Chamberlain,  a  Methodist, 
gave  an  exhortation,  in  which  he  began  by  lamenting  the  want  of 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  people,  declaring  at  first  that  he  had  no 
faith  to  exhort ;  he  reproved  the  people  for  sloth  and  neglect,  but 
soon  felliiito  a  strain  of  the  most  passionate,  powerful  appeals  to  the 
hopes  and  fears  of  all  around  him.  The  Methodists  were  alternately 
assailed  and  encouraged,  till  he  wound  up  by  proposing  to  all  who 
ever  did  pray,  or  ever  would  pray,  to  engage  ten  minutes  by  the 
watch  as  the  last  alternative.  Upon  this  the  members  and  others 
rushed  forward  to  the  stand,  and  all  commenced  as  if  with  one 
voice.  Soon  a  black  woman  and  some  others  commenced  shouting. 
Two  or  three  appeared  in  agony  for  mercy.  The  preachers  would 
exhort  them  to  have  a  httle  more  faith,  "  to  struggle  a  few  minutes 
longer,  and  God,  Christ,  and  heaven  are  yours !"  They  would 
constantly  make  appeals  to  those  engaged  to  prevent  the  fervor 
and  zeal  from  expiring.  I  left  them  about  nine  o'clock  still  en- 
gaged, and  I  could  hear  them  shouting  at  a  great  distance. 

I  remark  on  this  subject  generally  as  follows  : 

1.  Throughout  the  preaching,  the  exhortations,  and  the  com- 
munion nothing  of  this  kind  transpired :  hence  the  people  were 
said  to  be  indolent,  lazy,  and  devoid  of  faith. 


ESTIMATE   OF   CAMr-MEETINGS.  201 

2.  The  person  who  now  exhorted  evidently  intended  to  produce 
this  excitement ;  and  as  the  assembly  was  rather  small,  he  first 
pretended  he  had  no  faith  to  exhort,  and  that  they  must  depart 
without  a  solitary  conversion. 

3.  They  all  went  to  work  in  a  way  calculated  to  raise  their  own 
and  others'  passions,  and  labored  at  it  most  determinedly.  'I'hey 
appeared  to  act  as  if  they  felt  that  all  depended  on  human  eflbrt 
"  Conii'  forward  and  help  the  Lord  do  it,"  was  a  common  expres 
sion 

4.  The  excitement  had  to  be  kept  up  by  the  same  causes  which 
produced  it.  The  moment  the  preachers  stopped,  the  nerves 
of  the  people  relaxed  and  their  voices  fell. 

5.  All  this  excitement  and  elTect,  so  far  as  visible,  might  have 
been  produced  without  the  agency  of  God,  and  might  be  and 
seemed  to  be  only  the  effect  of  human  causes. 

6.  ^Yhile  from  the  fruits  occasionally  manifested,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  genuine  convictions  and  saving^  conversions  do  some- 
times follow  such  confused  and  disorderly  meetings,  yet  it  must 
be  confessed  that  most  of  these  cases  prove  false — worse  than 
worthless. 

7.  The  method  of  talking  to  and  exhorting  the  persons  apparently 
under  conviction  is  highly  improper  and  injudicious.  The  whole 
object  of  the  preachers  and  leaders  appears  to  be  to  get  them 
relieved  from  distress,  quite  irrespective  of  the  character  of  the 
relief.  Hence,  were  it  not  for  the  apparent  necessity  for  such 
meetings,  in  a  thinly  populated  country,  and  the  fact  that  some- 
times God  blesses  very  imperfect  means,  I  would  disapprove  of 
them  wholly.  As  they  are  congenial  to  the  habits  of  the  people, 
and  may  do  some  good,  reaching  those  not  otherwise  accessible, 
they  may  be  tolerated,  and  as  far  as  practicable  regulated. 

All  sorts  of  opposition  came  in  his  way,  and  valiantly  did 
he  encounter  it.  In  one  of  his  tours  for  organizing  Bible 
societies,  he  says  : 

Instead  of  persuading  the  ''people  to  unite  in  circulating  the 
Scriptures,  I  find  it  necessary  to  take  higher  ground,  and  support 
the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God — as  a  scheme  of  Divine  revelation. 
There  are  people  of  prominent  and  active  influence  who  reject  tlie 
gospel  of  a  precious  Saviour.  I  was  attacked  by  two  men  of  this 
sort,  in  the  public  house  where  I  put  up. 


202  MEMOIR   01    JOHN    M.  TECK. 

Tnis  led  him  to  review  carefully  the  ground  of  early  and 
modern  skepticism,  and  to  prepare  himself  thoroughly  to 
defend  that  Holy  Word  he  was  laboring  to  disseminate. 

July  30th,  he  thus  sums  up  the  results  of  an  early  and 
laborious  tour  as  Bible  agent : 

In  this  journey  in  the  Bible  cause  I  have  rode  five  hundred 
miles,  preached  seventeen  regular  sermons  besides  delivering 
several  addresses  ;  have  aided  in  forming  eight  Bible  societies,  two 
of  which  are  branches,  the  others  auxiliaries.  The  Lord  has 
been  exceedingly  gracious  to  me  in  all  my  journeyings,  granted 
me  an  unusual  degree  of  health,  prospered  me  in  my  labors  much 
beyond  any  reasonable  anticipations,  and  returned  me  in  safety 
over  several  dangerous  waters  where  I  had  to  swim  my  horse. 

Near  the  close  of  the  following  month,  as  he  was  prepar- 
ing to  set  forth  on  a  still  longer  tour  through  Missouri,  hia 
wife  became  very  ill,  and  for  several  days  despaired  of  re- 
covery. His  mind  was  greatly  exercised  with  distracting 
emotions  in  view  of  this  calamity,  but  at  length  he  found 
grace  to  commit  himself  and  family  entirely  into  the  Lord's 
hand,  and  wait  his  holy  will.  Almost  immediately  God 
turned  the  shadow  of  death  into  the  morning,  and  she  began 
steadily  to  recover.  One  week  later,  he  set  forth  on  this 
important  enterprise.^,  A  month  later,  he  thus  describes  his 
position  and  his  feelings  : 

September  2Qth.  I  am  now  at  Liberty,  Clay  county,  on  the  ex- 
treme western  side  of  Missouri,  north  of  the  Missouri  river. 
Southeast  lies  the  missionary  station  of  Harmony,  among  the 
Osages,  one  hundred  miles  distant.  Northwest  are  the  Council 
Bluffs,  and  before  me  the  interminable  wilderness,  over  which  the 
savage  Indians  roam  after  the  buffalo.  Could  I  but  succeed  in 
planting  the  Bible  here,  it  would  greatly  rejoice  my  heart,  but 
prospects^  at  present  are  not  very  favorable.  The  settlement  of 
this  remote  county  in  the  extremity  of  the  State  was  begun  but 
four  years  since,  and  it  now  contains  about  two  thousand  inliabi- 
tants.  Baptists,  Cumberland  Presb^^terians,  and  Methodists,  each 
have  societies  here.  The  people  who  have  settled  this  district  are 
chiefly  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  sadly  destitute  of  public 


BIBLE    EFFORTS — TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  203 

spirit,  and  manifest  a  great  degree  of  apathy  towards  bencYolent 
institutions,  even  when  they  are  obviously  intended  for  their  own 
benefit.  More  than  one  hundred  of  these  families  are  believed  to 
be  entirely  destitute  of  the  Scriptures,  yet  when  I  explained — after 
preaching — the  design  of  an  auxiliary  Bible  society,  the  need  and 
the  benefits  of  it,  and  then  urged  its  formation,  no  one  stepped 
forward  and  offered  to  engage  in  it.  In  Ray  and  Clay  and  Lillard 
counties,  little  or  nothing  could  be  effected. 

On  reaching  his  home  (October  20th),  he  thus  recapitulates 
the  labors  and  successes  of  the  journey : 

In  this  tour  I  have  not  been  as  successful  in  forming  Bible  socie- 
ties as  I  had  fondly  anticipated,  but  I  have  done  w^hat  I  could. 
May  the  blessing  of  Heaven  follow !  T  have  rode  on  horseback 
eight  hundred  and  thirty  miles,  preached  twenty-seven  times  regu- 
lar discourses,  formed  five  branch  JBible  societies,  attended  four 
Baptist  associations,  two  Methodist  camp-meetings,  besides  making 
a  number  of  addresses,  and  preparing  the  way  for  other  Bible 
societies  hereafter.     This  has  occupied  forty-five  days. 

In  November  of  this  year  he  mentions  attending  the  organ- 
ization of  a  society,  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance,  \v 
one  of  the  counties  of  Central  Illinois  ;  and  this  is  marked  i?' 
the  margin  at  a  much  later  date  as  the  first  temperance  society 
in  the  State,  or  possibly  he  means  the  first  with  which  he  had 
met  or  co-operated.  Thus  we  find  him  sowing  beside  all 
waters,  and  he  lived  to  verify  the  blessedness  which  the  Divine 
promise  announces.  Having  sowed  bountifully  the  good  seed 
of  all  good  enterprises — moral,  religious,  intellectual — it  was 
his  privilege  afterwards  to  reap  bountifully.  Having  gone 
forth,  weeping,  bearing  precious  seed,  he  did  return  rejoicing 
bearing  the  rich  sheaves  of  an  abundant  harvest.  But  we 
may  not  linger  longer  in  our  gleanings  of  this  harvest.  Yery 
appropriately  might  this  chapter  be  closed  by  the  letter  of 
Mr.  Peck  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, with  which  he  still  held  a  connection,  but  our 
limits  forbid. 


204  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

V 

CHAPTER    XYII. 

Revisiting — Circuit-preaching — Perverse  Ministers — Infidelity. 

The  next  ten  months  were  spent  in  a  manner  so  similar  to 
the  preceding  as  scarcely  to  require  a  minute  detail  of  his  nu- 
merous and  multifarious  engagements.  The  same  objects  aimed 
at,  as  described  in  the  last  chapter,  still  engrossed  his  atten- 
tion, and  were  prosecuted  on  the  whole  with  cheering  success. 
The  ordinary  amount  of  discouragement  from  misconception 
and  prejudice  among  opponents,  and  from  coolness,  indiffer- 
ence, and  lack  of  fidelity  in  his  professed  coadjutors,  cost  him 
many  a  severe  disappointment.  Yet  through  it  all  he  bated 
not  a  particle  of  heart  or  hope,  but  urged  his  way  onward, 
right  onward.  When  for  instance  he  would  make  his  way 
through  many  impediments  of  bad  roads,  swollen  creeks,  and 
missing  bridges,  for  scores  of  miles,  to  meet  some  Bible  so- 
ciety anniversary,  and  find,  on  arriving  at  the  appointed  place, 
that  no  arrangements  had  been  made  for  the  meeting,  instead 
of  abandoning  such  faulty  individuals  as  these  officers  and 
managers  had  proved  themselves,  he  would  set  about  the 
work  which  they  had  neglected  with  imperturbable  patience 
and  vigor,  and  when  aft*;r  struggling  day  and  night  to  repair 
the  disaster  occasioned  solely  by  their  neglect,  and  when  the 
full  tide  of  success  had  again  been  secured,  and  their  coldness 
was  giving  place  to  general  gratulations  in  view  of  the  cheer- 
ing results,  then,  and  not  before,  would  he  kindly  but  faith- 
fully lead  these  officers  to  see  the  bad  effects  of  their  luke- 
warmness,  and  win  from  them  a  hearty  pledge  of  greater 
fidelity  and  zeal  in  future.  He  came  very  soon  to  understand 
that  no  auxiliary,  Bible,  or  Sunday-school  society  was  reliably 
established,  until  it  had  been  revisited  at  the  end  of  a  year  or 
two  of  its  history,  to  set  in  order  and  re-supply  the  things 
which  were  wanting,  and  by  continuous  exercise  on  the  part 


CIRCUIT-PREACHING — SUNDAY- SCHOOLS.  205 

of  its  officers  and  managers,  they  had  formed  the  habit  of 
earning  success  by  patient  and  energetic  well-doing.  This 
course  of  reiterated  journeying  over  the  same  routes  where  ho 
had  passed  before  gave  him  much  more  thorough  and  com- 
plete knowledge  of  th^  country  and  its  wants,  and  the  means 
available  for  the  supply  of  these  wants,  than  he  could  have 
otherwise  secured  It  made  him  familiar  with  the  men  and 
the  means  which  could  be  called  out,  and  what  was  most 
indispensable  to  secure  them.  *  So  that,  in  reality,  great  as 
may  have  been  the  immediate  benefits  from  his  previous  and 
his  present  exertions  by  preaching,  and  by  his  systematic 
formation  of  Sunday-schools  and  Bible-distributing  organiza- 
tions, the  chief  value  of  these  explorations  may  still  be  justly 
reckoned  as  their  preparation  for  more  enlarged  and  efficient 
measures  in  the  future.  In  this  light  it  is  certain  that  he  came 
in  the  end  to  regard  them.  Indeed  so  little  was  he  satisfied 
with  the  amount  of  permanent  and  reliable  success  hitherto 
secured,  that  we  find  him  again  and  again  during  this  period 
very  seriously  revolving  the  question  whether  he  should  not 
break  away  from  the  multifarious  engagements  on  which,  as 
he  feared,  he  was  frittering  away  the  best  of  his  years,  and 
settling  himself  down  in  St.  Louis,  ministering  to  a  single 
church,  regularly  teaching  some  few  hours  a  day  for  his  reli- 
able support,  he  should  not  devote  himself  to  conducting  a 
weekly  journal  as  the  principal  means  of  arousing  and  wisely 
guiding  the  Western  mind,  and  heart,  and  habits,  for  self- 
improvement.  His  correspondence  and  journals  show  how 
nearly  he  at  one  time  came  to  yielding  himself  up  to  an  in- 
viting offer  of  this  kind.  But  doubtless  it  was  well  for  the 
cause  that  he  did  not.  It  was  yet  too  early  to  trust  to  the 
power  of  the  press  to  set  in  motion  and  wisely  guide  the  mass 
of  inert  mind  on  which,  for  religious  and  moral  improvemi'iit, 
he  had  to  operate.  More  of  the  hard,  preliminary  work  had 
first  to  be  performed,  and  to  that  he  earnestly  and  bravely 
devoted  himself. 

The  necessity  of  something  like  a  system  of  circuit-preaching, 
by  the  most  capable  and  faithful  ministers  attainable,  seems 
18 


206  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

to  have  been  about  this  time  fully  impressed  on  his  mind. 
Returning  from  one  of  his  usual  preaching  tours  through  a 
pretty  wide  range  of  counties,  churches,  and  preaching- 
stations,  he  thus  remarks  in  his  journal : 

On  this  route  I  have  rode  three  hundred  and  two  miles.  This  is 
a  circuit  suitable  for  an  active  missionary  in  this  country  to  ride 
over  in  one  month,  and  preach  thirty  times,  besides  attending  to 
keeping  alive  Bible  societies,  Sunday-schools,  and  looking  well  to 
the  discipline  of  the  churches. 

The  immense  mischief  done  by  ignorant,  imprudent,  and 
pretentious  preachers,  was  constantly  forcing  itself  on  his 
notice ;  and  jottings  down  in  his  journals  like  the  following 
are  of  frequent  occurrence  : 

After  much  serious  reflection  I  am  convinced  that  much  of  the 
ignorance,  prejudice,  and  bigotry,  which  exist  among  the  Baptists 
here,  is  to  be  traced  to  the  men  who  pretend  to  preach  the  gospel. 

Again,  on  the  following  page,  he  sfxjs  : 

The  Church  here  is  in  serious  difficulty,  and  from  all  appearances 
there  will  be  a  division  amongst  the  Baptists  through  the  State.  The 
opposers  of  missions  are  determined  to  invade  the  inherent  rights 
and  privileges  of  their  brethren,  and  it  really  seems  as  i'"  the^-  were 
given  up  to  violent  measures  in  order  to  hasten  their  own  defeat.  All 
these  difficulties  originate  from  the  ignorant  and  selfish  preachers." 

In  the  meantime  the  cheering  influence  of  the  Sunday- 
schools  which  he  had  established,  and  the  willingness  of  all 
classes  (with  trifling  exceptions)  to  co-operate  in  maintaining 
and  extending  them,  very  greatly  cheered  his  heart.  In  May, 
1825,  this  record  is  found  on  his  reaching  St.  Louis,  and  look- 
ing over  the  extensive  correspondence  there  received  by  him 
as  Secretary  of  a  Western  Sunday-school  Union  which  had 
there  been  formed  : 

From  various  quarters  I  learn  that  the  Sunday-school  cause 
prospers.  Schools  are  forming  in  different  parts,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  great  good  will  be  the  result. 

Again,  in  August  following,  on  occasion  of  his  extending 
his  tour  over  the  State  line  into  Indiana  and  there  forming 


VISIT    TO    ROBERT    OAVEN'S   COLONY.  20 T 

the  Knox  County  Sunday-school  Society  under  auspicious 
circumstances,  he  thus  remarks  : 

If  circumstances  possibly  admittctl,  I  could  form  a  complete 
system  of  Sunday-schools  in  Indiana;  and  I  am  almost  induced 
at  tnhes  to  forego  the  objects  I  have  already  contemplated,  sacrifice 
domestic  enjoyment  and  family  interest,  and  devote  myself  to  such 
a  work.  My  lungs  are  still  oppressed  with  cold  and  hoarseness, 
but  when  I  find  a  number  of  children  and  several  people  assemble 
in  the  evening  for  instruction,  I  cannot  hesitate  to  address  them, 
relating  Sunday-school  anecdotes  and  other  things  adapted  to  in- 
terest them.  In  every  part  of  tlie  country  is  a  wide  field  for  exer- 
tion. Twenty  missionaries  might  find  constant  employment  in 
Indiana. 

Later  in  the  same  month  Mr.  Peck  visited  Robert  Owen's 
colony  at  Harmony — of  which  he  furnishes  the  following 
account : 

I  rode  a  few  miles  on  purpose  to  see  the  community  lately 
formed  by  Mr.  Owen.  The  town  of  Harmony  is  situated  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  AY  abash  and  was  originially  founded  by  a  colony 
of  Germans  under  a  Mr.  Eapp.  There  are  a  number  of  excellent 
buildings,  fine  gardens,  w^ith  walks,  labyrinths,  vineyards,  etc.,  but 
at  present  much  of  it  lies  waste.  The  town  is  crowded  with  popu- 
lation, under  somewhat  singular  police  regulations.  There  is  a 
mixture  of  every  class  of  people,  as  to  their  religious  preferences ; 
but  a  large  number,  perhaps  one-fourth,  are  deists  and  atheists. 
These  are  the  principles  taught  in  the  schools.  The  children  are 
all  taught  to  believe  nothing  but  what  the  senses  can  demonstrate. 
This  society  is  only  in  the  incipient  stage  of  the  social  community 
which  Mr.  Owen  contemplates.  Here  men  are  to  be  prepared  by 
a  state  of  probation  and  disciphne,  to  enter  into  that  rest  and 
happiness  which  he  contemplates  wall  be  enjoyed  by  those  who 
shall  be  divested  of  all  religious  hopes  and  fears. 

At  evening,  by  arrangement  of  the  committee,  the  meeting  of  the 
eociety  for  business  was  postponed,  and  opportunity  given  for  me 
to  deliver  a  lecture  in  the  meeting-house.  I  did  not  begin  in  the 
usual  way  of  pubhc  worship,  but  lectured  on  man,  his  nature,  his 
character,  wants,  etc.,  the  necessity  of  religion  to  such  a  being,  the 
character  of  the  gospel ;  and  then  enforced  the  duty  of  following 
the  guiding  light  of  Scripture.    A  Mr.  Jennings — head  teacher,  lee- 


208  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

turer,  etc. — proposed  to  deliver  a  lecture  in  defence  of  his  system 
some  ten  da^^s  hence.  But  this  did  not  satisfy  the  pubhc  mind. 
Finally  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  lecture  the  next  evening,  tind 
give  me  opportunity  to  reply.  I  soon  found  the  whole  town  in 
commotion.  Parties  were  collected  at  the  street  corners,  debating 
Numbers  called  on  me  presenting  their  grateful  acknowledgment? 
for  my  lecture,  and  expressing  the  hope  that  1  would  defend  the 
truth.  I  cannot  but  think  that  God  in  his  providence  has  sent  me 
here  to  stay  the  devouring  flood  of  infidelity  and  atheism. 

The  following  evening  I  heard  Mr.  Jennings  deliver  his  lecture, 
in  which  he  displayed  considerable  ingenuity,  while  supporting 
his  principles  of  atheism.  He  did  not  come  out  openly  and  fully  to 
the  understanding  of  all,  but  presented  the  subject  in  such  a  way 
as  could  not  be  mistaken  by  an  observing  person.  I  replied  to  him 
in  a  short  discourse,  in  which  my  endeavor  was  fully  to  expose  his 
principles,  and  publicly  declared  that  I  would  expose  them  through 
the  country.  It  is  now  fully  evident  that  Owen's  system  is  based 
on  atheism ;  and  that  every  effort  will  be  made  to  erase  from  the 
minds  of  its  receivers  every  idea  of  God. 

As  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  bitter  fruits  of  this 
system  Mr.  Peck  the  next  day  visited  a  lady  who  was  a 
member  of  a  Baptist  church  in  Cincinnati,  and  being  in 
widowhood  with  several  children,  she  had  joined  this  com- 
munity of  Owen's.  Here  she  -was  induced  to  marry  one  of 
the  members  of  it,  who  turned  out  very  soon  to  be  an  atheist 
in  full,  who  now  laughs  at  and  mocks  her,  and  in  every 
possible  way  interferes  with  her  religious  duties.  She 
evinced  the  utmost  distress  in  regard  to  her  situation  and 
that  of  her  poor  children. 

On  his  return  home,  a  few  days  later,  he  found  that  a  son 
named  John  Q.  A.  Peck  had  been  born  in  his  absence,  and 
that  Mrs.  Peck  in  her  accouchement  had  come  near  losing  her 
life.  God's  goodness  in  sparing  her  called  for  the  husband's 
warmest  and  most  devout  acknowledgments.  He  thus  sums 
up  the  labors  of  this  one  journey  : 

I  have  been  absent  from  home  fifty-three  days ;  have  traveled 
through  eighteen  counties  in  Illinois,  and  nine  in  Indiana,  rode  nine 
hundred  and  twenty-six  miles,  preached  regular  sermons  thirty-one 


ANTI-SLAVERY   BAPTISTS— MISSOURI    SLAVEHOLDERS.      209 

times,  besides  delivering  several  speeches,  addresses,  and  lectures.  I 
have  been  enabled  to  revive  three  Bible  societies,  which  would  never 
liave  been  recognized  but  for  my  visit ;  to  estabhsh  seven  new 
societies ;  to  visit  and  give  instruction  and  encouragement  in  the 
management  of  two  societies  which  had  been  formed  without  my 
aid  ;  and  to  provide  for  the  formation  of  four  others.  I  have  aided 
in  forming  three  Sabbath-school  societies,  and  in  opening  several 
schools  where  no  societies  exist,  and  improved  many  important 
opportunities  to  aid  the  great  cause  in  various  ways.  Now,  Lord, 
give  me  both  gratitude  and  humility,  that  I  may  praise  thee  for 
all  my  success,  and  seeing  my  own  weakness  and  insignificance 
may  sink  into  the  dust  of  self-abasement,  that  I  may  never  be 
proud  or  vain ! 

The  remaining  months  of  the  year  1825  were  filled  to  re- 
pletion with  incessant  engagements  and  labors  of  a  somewhat 
multifarious  character,  in  supplying  monthly  the  colored  and 
white  churches,  in  St.  Louis,  which  had  virtually  if  not 
formally  separated  ;  in  traveling  among  the  associations  and 
churches  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  especially  in  promoting  the 
formation,  strengthening  and  encouragement  of  Bible  and 
Sunday-school  societies  in  both  these  States,  which  threw  on 
him,  as  their  Corresponding  Secretary,  the  laboring  oar,  and 
tasked  every  moment  of  his  time  in  cares,  toils,  circulars  and 
letters  to  prominent  individuals.  We  cannot  follow  him 
minutely  in  these  varied  and  most  incessant  labors,  but  will 
only  glean  here  and  there  an  item  from  his  hurried  journal. 

In  October  he  attended  the  annual  conference  of  the 
"Friends  of  Humanity,"  an  association  of  anti-slavery  Bap- 
tists in  Illinois,  several  of  the  members  of  which  subse- 
(juently  became  his  warmest  personal  friends.  This  is  his 
verdict  in  regard  to  their  sentiments  and  practices  at  that 
period : 

I  heard  several  discourses  during  the  meeting.  The  preaching 
is  rather  tinctured  with  Arrainianism.  Too  much  stress  is  laid  on 
the  grace  given  equally  to  all  men,  and  the  whole  result  as  depend- 
ing on  the  improvement  which  they  make  of  it.  This  in  particu- 
lar was  the  f^^of  a  discourse  from  Father  C.  At  night  the 
communion  was  observed,  but   there  was  far  too  much  confusion 


210  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.    PECK. 

and  disorder  during  the  observance,  too  much  singing  and  shaking 
hands,  far  too  much  bodily  effort.  Still  there  are  valuable  things 
in  this  society,  and,  with  some  improvement,  they  will  be  far  more 
useful  then  the  cold  Laodicean  Baptists  around  them. 

He  thus  speaks  of  a  Cumberland  Presbyterian  camp- 
meeting  in  Missouri : 

More  than  twenty  professed  to  be  converted,  but  from  what  I 
could  learn,  there  was  too  much  of  the  imagination  predominant — 
such  as  seeing  heaven,  seeing  hell,  shaking  hands  with  Christ,  etc. 
Amongst  ignorant  people  such  excesses  are  frequent,  but  no 
doubt  a  good  work  is  going  on  here. 

On  a  visit  in  the  same  month  to  St.  Charles,  Mo.,  he 
enters  this  minute  : 

I  am  happy  to  find  among  the  slaveholders  in  Missouri  a  growing 
disposition  to  have  the  blacks  educated,  and  to  patronise  Sunday- 
schools  for  the  purpose.  I  doubt  not  but  by  prudent  efforts  this 
may  be  effected  extensively. 

At  the  end  of  the  year,  and  for  some  three  weeks  after- 
wards, he  was  in  and  near  Yandalia,  the  seat  of  government 
of  Illinois  at  that  time,  preaching  in  the  legislature  halls  in 
behalf  of  the  Bible  and  Sunday-school  cause.  By  public  and 
personal  appeals  among  those  attending  the  session  of  the 
Legislature,  he  was  enabled  to  win  many  prominent  men  from 
all  parts  of  the  State  to  favor  these  objects.  But  he  was  en- 
couraged to  aim  at  securing  the  funds  possessed  by  a  State 
agricultural  society,  which  was  now  about  to  be  dissolved,  to 
be  transferred  to  a  Sunday-school  society  for  the  State.  In 
this  he  was  entirely  successful,  and  together  with  some  indi- 
vidual donations  from  members  of  the  legislature,  he  secured 
about  two  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  for  this  object. 

In  Februar}^,  1826,  while  spending  a  few  days  in  St.  Louis 
he. assisted  in  the  ordination  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Meacham,  a 
colored  brother,  who  then  and  even  to  his  death  was  held  in 
high  esteem  by  all  who  knew  him.  The  General  Sunday-school 
Union  also  appointed  him  their  agent  to  solicit  funds  in  !N"ew 
York,    Boston,    and    other   eastern    cities.       The    Auxiliary 


REFLECTIONS.  211 

Colonization  Society  of  St.  Louis  also  appointed  him  their 
agent  and  representative  to  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  in  whose  efforts  for  the  poor  blacks  he  then,  and 
through  life,  felt  the  greatest  interest. 

Having  in  various  ways  brought  his  important  work  in 
hand  to  a  state  of  as  much  completeness  as  possible,  he  was 
prepared  for  an  absence  of  several  months  in  an  eastern  tour, 
which  must  be  chronicled  in  the  following  chapter. 

Yery  appropriate  to  the  close  of  this  are  some  general  re- 
flections written  near  this  time  in  the  beginning  of  one  of 
his  journals,  from  which  the  following  sentences  have  been 
condensed : 

I  am  beginning  to  fear  that  my  mind  is  not  as  susceptible  of  high 
religious  emotions  as  formerly.  I  have  less,  far  less  feeling  about 
missions,  but  more  firmness,  resolution  and  perseverance  to 
accomplish  my  objects.  In  fine,  I  view  an  unseen  hand  guiding 
me  in  all  my  ways,  and  desire  to  trust  myself  entirely  to  His  dis 
posal.  Though  my  labors  have  been  more  arduous,  and  have  more 
exposed  me  to  the  severity  of  weather  and'  climate  for  the  last 
two  years  than  before,  I  have  enjoyed  better  health.  After  mature 
deliberation,  and  ten  years  experience  since  I  devoted  my  life  as  a 
pioneer  in  the  army  of  the  Redeemer,  I  am  as  firm  and  unshaken  in 
my  resolution,  as  at  the  first  moment  I  enlisted.  I  have  been 
sorely  tried,  my  character  reproached,  and  my  name  cast  out  as 
evil,  but  I  do  not  desire  to  give  up  the  cause  of  missions  or  com- 
promise one  of  its  principles.  Though  my  lot  is  not  what  I  ex- 
pected, yet  I  have  hitherto  been  enabled  to  act  on  the  great 
principle  I  adopted  at  the  first,  viz. :  that  my  time,  property,  talents 
family,  body,  soul,  and  all  that  I  have  and  am,  are  sacredly  conse- 
crated to  the  missionary  cause,  as  God's  providence  may  order  and 
direct ;  whether  in  the  Bible,  Sunday-school  or  missionary  employ^ 
it  is  all  with  the  same  end  in  view.  0  Lord,  help  me  to  continue 
faithful  and  devoted  to  thee  ! 


212  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 


CHAPTER    XYIIL 

A  Nine-montlis'  tour  to  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States. 

The  time  had  at  length  arrived  when  imperative  duty  as 
well  as  strong  inclination  led  Mr.  Peck  for  the  first  time  after 
his  removal  to  the  West  to  set  his  face  towards  the  scenes 
and  friends  of  his  earlier  years.  The  nine  years  of  his  separa- 
tion from  them  had  in  no  degree  dimmed  his  perceptions 
of  their  worth,  or  chilled  his  heart  towards  them.  On  the 
other  hand,  so  free  and  frequent  had  been  his  correspondence, 
and  so  vividly  was  all  the  past  impressed  on  his  mind,  that 
soon  as  circumstances  permitted  he  yearned  to  revisit  the 
loved  ones  he  had  left  so  long.  But  stronger  inducements 
than  any  mere  personal  gratification  impelled  him  to  this 
journey.  He  had  borne  into  the  deep  mine  the  explorer's 
torch,  and  felt  an  intense  solicitude  to  rally  to  his  aid  the 
requisite  assistance  to  secure  the  rich  treasures  which  he  had 
discovered.  For  six  of  these  years,  single-handed  and  with 
but  little  aid  from  abroad,  he  had  been  manfully  battling  for 
truth  and  righteousness,  for  the  enlightenment  and  evangel- 
ization of  the  mighty  West,  and  he  was  now  constrained  to 
report  to  the  churches  of  New  England  and  New  York  what 
had  been  done,  and  what  further  efforts  were  immediately 
demanded.  He  was  the  first  who,  from  minute,  thorough 
general  knowledge,  brought  the  appeal  to  the  Baptist  churches 
of  the  East  to  come  up  promptly  and  energetically  to  the  help 
of  their  less-favored  brethren  in  the  West.  While  he  had  felt 
constrained  to  correct  many  extravagant  misrepresentations 
which  others  had  sent  forth  on  this  subject,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose, throughout  the  previous  year,  had  been  writing  a  series 
of  articles  in  the  "  Christian  Watchman,"  Boston,  designed  to 
refute  many  of  these  misconceptions,  he  felt  equally  bound  on 
the  other  hand  not  to  let  the  real  and  pressing  religious  wants 


VISIT   TO    CINCINNATI.  213 

of  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  remain 
unheeded.  Yery  well  did  he  understand  also  that  a  personal 
appeal  would  be  much  more  efficient  than  any  other. 

The  record  of  this  tour  fills  nearly  ninety  pages  of  a  quarto 
volume  of  his  journal,  besides  another  folio  volume  of  sixty- 
seven  pages,  full  of  memoranda  of  various  observations  in 
regard  to  weather,  soil,  topography,  statistics,  and  whatever 
he  deemed  most  interesting  not  falling  within  the  range  of 
his  ordinary  diary.  These  materials  are  superabundant,  be- 
sides which  personal  recollections  in  ample  fullness  and  vari- 
ety here  come  to  the  aid  of  the  biographer.  But  necessity 
seems  to  demand  the  compression  of  the  most  permanently 
important  of  all  these  into  the  limits  of  a  single  chapter. 

Mr.  Peck  left  his  home  and  family  on  the  22d  of  February, 
and  journeyed  on  horseback  to  Cincinnati,  a  distance  of  three 
hundred  and  forty-eight  miles.  His  health  was  not  good,  and 
the  weather  and  traveling  were  most  wearisome  and  forbidding, 
so  that  with  the  delays  thus  occasioned  he  consumed  nearly 
three  weeks  in  this  part  of  the  journey.  Over  a  great  part 
of  this  route  he  had  traveled  before,  and  here  his  way  was 
cheered  by  the  society  and  hospitality  of  old  friends.  He 
did  what  he  could  in  public  and  private  to  strengthen  the 
things  which  remained — the  Bible  societies,  Sunday-schools, 
and  little  half-destitute  churches.  On  reaching  the  eastern 
portion  of  Indiana,  he  came  upon  new  ground,  and  formed 
new  and  interesting  acquaintances.  The  Hon.  Judge  Holman, 
near  Aurora  was  one  of  these,  and  a  life-long  intimacy  and 
friendship  grew  out  of  it  to  their  mutual  satisfaction  and  the 
benefit  of  the  cause. 

On  reaching  Cincinnati,  which  he  now  visited  for  the  first 
time,  he  found  a  more  interesting  state  of  things,  both  in  the 
city,  where  he  remained  five  days,  and  in  the  State  of  Ohio, 
of  which  he  could  here  learn  much  more  than  had  before  been 
known  to  him, — than  he  had  even  dared  to  anticipate.  Mea- 
sures were  now  set  on  foot  by  the  personal  appeals  of  one 
or  more  of  the  brethren  to  the  churches,  which  soon  after 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Ohio  Baptist  Convention 


214  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.    PECK. 

for  domestic  missions  and  education  purposes.  In  the  city 
also  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  warm-hearted,  intelligent 
brethren,  whose  attentions  to  him  and  zeal  for  the  cause 
greatly  encouraged  his  heart.  Preaching  to  the  Enon  Bap- 
tist church  then  worshiping  in  Walnut  street,  he  found  a 
larger  and  more  respectable  assembly  than  he  had  addressed 
for  many  years.  Religion  was  flourishing,  and  additions  were 
made  to  the  church  every  month.  Here,  too,  a  high  and 
increasing  missionary  spirit- was  manifest,  and  for  his  work's 
sake  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  warm-hearted,  devoted 
friends,  and  almost  devoured  by  the  demonstrations  of  their 
kindness.  By  special  request  he  preached  to  them  on  Lord's- 
day  evening  a  missionary  discourse,  and  a  collection  was  taken 
for  their  own  missionary  purposes.  So  wearied  had  both  man 
and  horse  been  by  struggling  through  rain  and  mud  to  this 
place  that  he  was  induced  to  put  both  on  board  a  steamer,  and 
in  this  way  accomplished  with  ease  and  satisfaction  the  next 
four  hundred  miles  to  Wheeling.  It  seems  to  have  been  his 
first  experience  of  traveling  any  considerable  distance  in  this 
manner,  by  which  subsequently  he  was  to  experience  so  much 
of  benefit  and  peril.  He  remarks  on  the  rattling  and  crashing 
of  the  engines,  and  the  bustle  and  confusion  on  board,  as 
rendering  it  impracticable  to  have  public  worship  on  the 
Sabbath  as  he  had  desired,  and  as  on  the  large  boats  was 
often  practicable.  In  three  and  a  half  days  he  arrived  at 
Wheeling,  and  thence  proceeded  on  horseback  with  ease  and 
expedition  over  the  national  road  towards  Washington  city. 

In  Washington,  Pa.,  he  mentions  an  interesting  interview 
which  he  had  with  Rev.  Charles  Wheeler,  pastor  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  in  that  place  (subsequently  President  of  Rector 
College,  Western  Yirginia),  who  gave  him  a  pretty  clear  idea 
of  the  continued  difficulties  in  the  Redstone  Baptist  Associa- 
tion, where  there  was  a  hyper-Calvinistic  party,  very  rigid 
and  bigoted,  and  where  Alexander  Campbell  was  more  and 
more  manifesting  his  opposition  to  the  above  party  and  their 
shibboleth,  while  still  a  third  and  more  numerous  portion  of 
that  body  maintained  a  middle  ground. 


WASHINGTON   CITY — RICE   AND    STAUGIITON.  215 

At  Cumberland,  where  he  spent  a  Sabbath,  he  mentions 
hearing  an  excellent  sermon  from  the  Lutheran  minister ;  he 
also  visited  and  promoted  the  Sunday-schools  in  the  place, 
and  preached  in  the  evening.  Kev.  Isaac  McCoy,  having 
passed  through  the  place  recently  with  several  young  Indians 
whom  he  was  taking  for  education  in  some  of  the  Northern 
colleges,  had  awakened  considerable  interest  in  the  subject  of 
Indian  missions,  which  the  good  people  desired  to  have  fanned 
into  a  flame.  They  persuaded  Mr.  Peck  to  stop  on  Monday 
and  organize  a  juvenile  society  for  this  purpose.  He  did  so 
with  pleasure,  preaching  again  on  this  subject,  thus  waken- 
ing anew  his  own  zeal  and  love  for  this  kindred  evangelical 
enterprise. 

By  the  end  of  March  he  reached  Washington  city,  and 
found  himself  surrounded,  as  he  said,  by  every  thing  grand, 
pompous,  ceremonious,  intelligent,  and  these  traits  probably 
counterbalanced  by  those  of  the  opposite  character.  His  old 
friends.  Rice  and  Dr.  Staughton,  welcomed  him  cordiall}^  But 
he  soon  saw  the  incipient  coolness  and  distrust  which  was 
beginning  to  manifest  itself  between  them  and  their  respect- 
ive adherents,  which,  before  another  month  was  at  an 
end,  blazed  out  into  open  rupture.  He  visited  the  Capitol, 
and  heard  McDuffie,  and  other  of  the  principal  speakers  of 
that  era.  Considerable  of  his  time  was  also  spent  in  the 
Columbian  College,  into  whose  affairs,  pecuniary  and  literary, 
he  seems  to  have  looked  somewhat  closely.  He  preached 
both  in  the  city  and  in  the  college  chapel ;  and  in  company 
with  the  member  of  Congress  from  his  district,  he  waited  on 
President  Adams,  for  whom  he  had  felt  so  much  admiration 
that  he  had  just  named  his  youngest  son  after  him.  The  last 
Lord's  day  he  was  here.  Dr.  Staughton  delivered  in  +hc  chapel 
a  lecture  on  the  wisdom  of  God  in  redemption,  of  which  he 
sa3"S  :  "  Though  the  Doctor  has  failed  in  a  number  of  respects, 
I  could  see  his  usual  vivacity  and  eloquence  at  times  during 
the  discourse."  The  same  evening  he  mentions  holding  a 
long  and  painful  conversation  with  his  friend  Luther  Kice  on 
the  various  topics  connected  with  the  college  and  missions. 


21 Q  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

and  became  more  fully  impressed  with  the  serious  difficulties 
which  threatened  disturbance  and  the  separation  of  those  who 
had  been  warm  friends,  by  coldness,  distrust,  and  jealousy. 
With  commendable  prudence  he  determined  to  forbear  ex- 
pressing any  judgment  on  these  things  till  he  had  been  enabled 
to  judge  coolly  and  understandingl}^. 

After  a  fortnight  spent  in  the  national  capital,  during  a  por- 
tion of  which  time  he  was  a  housed-sufferer  from  a  severe 
influenza,  he  passed  on  through  Baltimore,  where  a  single  day 
sufficed  him  to  renew  his  acquaintance  with  the  Baptist  pastors 
and  other  friends,  and  by  the  middle  of  April  again  reached 
Philadelphia,  w^here  so  many  pleasant  associations  and  recol- 
lections of  the  happy  months  of  his  student  life  were  awakened. 

Lord's-day  morning  he  preached  for  Rev.  Mr.  Dagg,  pastor 
of  Sansom  street  church,  and  in  the  evening  listened  to  one,  who 
had  been  a  fellow-student,  in  the  same  pulpit,  of  whose  perform- 
ance he  thus  speaks  :  "  He  was  rather  too  rapid  and  violent 
in  his  tones  and  gestures;  otherwise  there  would  have  been 
many  admirable  strokes  of  eloquence  in  his  discourse,  which 
on  the  v/hole  was  ingenious  and  instructive.  Several  times 
he  had  the  attention  of  the  audience  roused  up  to  the  highest 
pitch,  but  had  not  the  faculty  of  letting  them  down  again 
without  too  sudden  and  abrupt  a  transition."  He  rejoiced 
also  in  the  evidences  of  respect  and  love  evinced  by  this 
church  and  congregation  for  their  new  pastor,  the  successor 
of  his  beloved  instructor.  Dr.  Staughton. 

His  da^^s  and  nights  were  here  a  continuous  round  of 
welcomes  among  the  friends  he  had  formerly  known  and 
loved.  He  mentions  dining  with  a  large  company  of  Pres- 
byterian ministers  at  the  hospitable  mansion  of  Alexander 
Henry,  President  of  the  American  Sunday-school  Union.  In 
this  city  and  its  surroundings,  among  which  is  prominently 
to  be  mentioned  his  dear  friend  and  yoke-fellow's  home  at 
Mt.  Holly  and  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  he  spent  the  next  ten 
days.  Almost  every  day  or  night,  or  both,  he  was  called 
out  for  sermons,  lectures,  addresses,  all  bearing  more  or  less 
directly  on  the  stores   of   definite  and   reliable   information 


NEW  YORK  ANNIVERSARIES.  217 

which  he  could  furnish  in  regard  to  the  mighty  West — its 
wants,  its  capabilities,  and  its  prospects. 

From  the  26th  of  April  to  the  Yth  of  May  he  was  in 
attendance  on  the  session  of  the  Triennial  Convention  in 
New  York,  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  his  old  Dutchess 
county  friend  Deacon  Purser.  There  ice  met  (his  biographer 
and  himself),  after  eleven  years  separation.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  session  he  was  ill  a  day  or  two,  and  afterward  in  the 
painful  collisions  so  manifest  and  wide-reaching,  between 
some  of  his  choicest  early  friends,  he  was  very  silent.  In- 
deed, he  said  little  in  public  during  that  whole  meeting.  But 
he  was  a  keen  observer,  a  good  listener,  and  then  and  there 
he  learned  to  read  the  characteristics  of  many  of  those  who 
were  more  or  less  directly  associated  with  him  through  the 
remainder  of  his  eventful  life.  There  may  have  been  another 
reason  which  restrained  him  from  taking  a  more  prominent 
part  in  those  debates,  besides  the  revering  love  he  felt  for  the 
leaders  on  both  sides.  He  felt  that  immensely  great  and 
sacred  interests  had  been  confided  to  him  and  his  advocacy, 
and  he  would  not  needlessly  imperil  them  by  mixing  himself 
with  the  debates,  so  engrossing  and  exciting,  which  were  now 
transpiring.  He  was  no  scheming,  selfish  trimmer,  at  this  or 
at  any  period  of  his  life  ;  but  he  knew  how  to  reserve  him- 
self for  an  emergency  of  transcendent  interest,  compared 
with  which  the  animosities  and  collisions,  chiefly  of  a  personal 
character,  which  now  stirred  the  blood  so  quickly,  were  but 
as  the  small  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing-floor. 

On  both  the  Sabbaths  during  the  session  he  preached,  and 
with  liveliest  interest  he  visited  as  many  of  the  best  con- 
ducted Sabbath-schools  as  possible.  The  one  in  Yandam 
(now  McDougal)  street  was  reckoned  at  that  time  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  schools  in  the  city,  and  he  made  himself 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  its  whole  plan,  and  system  of 
operations.  His  verdict,  after  a  full,  repeated  examination  of 
it,  was,  that  it  was  probably  the  best  conducted  Sunday-school 
in  the  world.  "All  the  scholars  are  closely  instructed  into 
the  meaning  of  the  Scripture."  His  old  fellow-pupil  in  thft 
1^ 


218  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.  PECK. 

Dutchess  Academy  at  Poughkeepsie,  Rev.  Aaron  Perkins, 
was  then  pastor  of  this  church,  and  with  him  and  their 
former  preceptor,  Daniel  H.  Barnes,  associate  principal  with 
Dr.  Griscom  of  one  of  the  most  important  high  schools  of  the 
city,  he  enjoyed  a  delightful  re-union. 

Immediately  succeeding  the  Triennial  Convention,  the 
usual  May  anniverslties  of  general  religious  benevolence 
were  held  in  New  York.  These  he  attended  with  absorbing 
interest  and  satisfaction,  particularly  the  assemblage  of  five 
or  six  thousand  Sunday-school  children  in  Castle  Garden, 
where  Mars  with  his  murderous  accompaniments  had  been 
turned  out  to  let  this  lovely  throng  of  Sunday-scholars  in, 
with  their  sweet  faces  and  peaceful,  holy  banners,  where 
their  hosannahs  to  the  Prince  of  peace  went  up  in  blessed 
harmony,  and  where  prayers  and  addresses  of  a  most  appro- 
priate and  spirit-striking  character  were  listened  to,  and  drew 
forth  the  exultation  of  his  soul.  The  American  Bible  Society, 
as  a  special  and  well-merited  token  of  its  favor,  made  him  an 
honorary  life-member,  for  the  important  and  distinguished 
favor  he  had  rendered  to  their  cause  in  the  West.  This  was 
the  first  time  he  had  ever  been  permitted  to  mingle  in  their 
anniversary  services.  To  all  of  them,  the  American  Tract 
Society,  the  American  Home  Mission,  and  the  Coloniza- 
tion Society,  as  well  as  those  before  mentioned,  he  gave  his 
attention,  as  a  large-hearted  man,  loving  his  whole  country 
and  his  race,  should  do.  His  remarks  on  the  several  addresses 
to  which  he  had  listened  on  this  occasion  are  eminently  just 
and  generous,  while  also  they  are'  faithfully  discriminating. 
Mcllvaine,  then  Professor  and  Chaplain  at  West  Point,  and 
now  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Ohio,  received  his 
highest  praise  in  these  words  :  "  For  sound  reasoning,  solid 
eloquence,  and  brilliancy  of  thought,  I  have  never  heard  his 
address  surpassed." 

These  services  all  over,  he  brought  his  horse  from  New 
Jersey,  where  it  had  been  kept  during  his  sojourn  in  New 
York,  and  hastened  to  his  mother  in  his  native  town.  The 
floods  of  rain  which  impeded  his  journey  on  setting  out  from 


VISIT   TO   HIS   NATIVE   PLACE.  219 

Lome  had  now  been  exchanged  for  drought,  and  the  roads 
were  so  dry  and  dusty  as  to  make  his  ride  very  unpleasant. 
Passing  through  Stamford  and  Stratfield  on  the  afternoon  of 
Thursday,  the  18th  of  May,  he  says  : 

I  drew  near  to  the  hills  and  prospects  upon  which  a  thousand 
times  I  had  gazed  in  childhood — my  ru||ive  town.  How  many 
pleasing  and  painful  associations  rush  into  the  mind,  on  returning 
to  one's  native  "home  after  an  ahsence  of  years  !  Changes  have 
occurred,  a  new  generation  has  started  up,  the  old  people  have 
mostly  vanished  from  the  earth ;  but  the  hills  and  valleys,  the 
rocks  and  rills  remain  unchanged.  Arrived  at  my  mother's  house 
near  night ;  found  her  alone,  and  again  a  widow.  Mr.  King,  whom 
she  had  married  after  my  father's  death,  died  in  February  last. 
Her  health  seems  tolerably  good,  but  age  has  silvered  even  her 
locks,  leaving  the  heart  still  unchilled. 

The  next  few  days  his  health  was  but  indifferent,  and  he 
felt  the  weariness  and  prostration  which  the  journey  and  the 
scenes  of  excitement  through  which  he  had  passed  naturally 
would  produce.  He  visited  among  old  neighbors  and  friends 
with  considerable  interest.  On  Lord's-day  he  went  to  the 
house  of  the  Lord  where  in  boyhood  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  attend,  and  heard  a  young  candidate,  of  whose  perform- 
ances the  following  characteristic  notice  occurs  in  his  journal : 

He  preached  both  morning  and  afternoon  from  Jer.  xvii.  9  :  ''The 
heart  is  deceitful  and  desperately  wicked."  He  drew  a  very  horrid 
picture  of  the  natural  heart,  by  showing  what  man  might  do,  pro- 
vided he  had  opportunity,  and  was  not  restrained.  It  is  question- 
able whether  this  metaphysical  mode  of  preaching,  developing  so 
much  from  the  mental  and  moral  capability,  is  calculated  to  do  any 
great  good.  One  thing  I  remarked,  that  both  discourses  did  not 
contain  enough  of  the  gospel  method  of  salvation  to  direct  a  single 
inquirer  to  Christ. 

The  next  week  he  hastened  off  by  stage  through  Hartford, 
where  he  spent  a  day  or  two  conferring  with  brethren  in 
regard  to  the  great  errand  with  which  he  felt  himself  charged 
— help  for  the  West.  Then  he  hurried  out  to  Worcester,  and 
passed  the  night  with  Rev.  Jonathan  Going,  and  doubtless 


220  MEMOIB   OP   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

kindled  up  those  sparks  which  half  a  dozen  years  later  burst 
forth  into  a  genial  flame,  and  led  to  the  formation  of  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society.  Then  he  hastened 
to  Boston,  conferred  with  the  pastors  there,  and  on  Lord's- 
day  preached  for  three  of  them.  The  following  week  the 
religious  anniversaries  of  "N'ew  England  were  held  in  that 
city,  which  he  attended  with  lively  interest.  Wednesday 
morning  in  the  Baldwin  Place  Baptist  church  the  anniversary 
of  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Missionary  Society  was  held. 
His  record  is : 

Dr.  Sharp  read  his  annual  report,  and  addresses  were  listened  to 
from  Gammel,  Dunbar,  Benedict,  Lynd,  Babcock  and  myself.  ]  t 
was  an  interesting  and  most  impressive  meeting. 

Certainly  it  was  so  to  some  of  us  who  heard  him  for  the 
first  time  let  out  without  stint  the  pent-up  flames  of  holy 
zeal  which  consumed  him.  That  very  afternoon  the  tiistees 
came  together,  and  he  explained  to  them,  in  minuteness  of 
detail,  the  plan  of  operations  which  he  deemed  most  suited  to 
the  wants  of  the  West.  Next  day,  his  plan  in  its  general 
principles  was  adopted.  He  was  appointed  agent  and  commis- 
sioned to  go  forth  and  raise  the  requisite  funds  to  put  the 
system  into  operation.  "  Let  me  stop,"  says  he,  "  to  acknowl- 
edge the  Divine  goodness  in  disposing  these  excellent  brethren 
to  enter  with  so  much  spirit  and  life  into  the  business.  Oh, 
for  God's  blessing  to  follow  !" 

This  plan  of  operations  as  described  by  himself  was  three- 
fold. 1.  A  system  of  circuit  preaching  for  the  States  of 
Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Indiana — giving  to  each  circuit 
preacher  to  be  employed,  under  direction  of  a  committee  in 
each  of  these  States,  an  average  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars 
per  annum,  and  the  remainder  of  his  support  to  be  secured 
on  his  field.  2.  An  efficient  preacher  and  teacher  to  bo 
secured  for  St.  Louis,  who  would  be  able,  it  was  thought, 
to  one-half  sustain  himself  by  the  income  of  a  school,  and 
steadily  supply  the  church  in  that  important  city.  3.  The  get- 
ting up  a  theological  school  in  Illinois  for  all  these  States, 


THEOLOGICAL    SCHOOL   IN   ILLINOIS.  221 

where  young  men,  approved  as  preachers,  might  have  the 
intellectual  training  which  they  needed,  and  be  aided  also  in 
preparing  themselves  specially  for  preaching,  and  the  pastor- 
ship of  the  churches. 

In  regard  to  this  last  he  says,  in  a  letter  written  about 
this  tirAe  : 

The  theological  school  has  been  an  object  in  my  mind  for  years, 
as  a  ver3'^  necessary  part  of  that  system  of  measures  which  I  have 
attempted  to  carry  forward ;  but  I  have  never  seen  the  time  to 
accomplish  it  until  now.  Friends  about  Boston  and  other  places 
have  come  forward  to  aid,  so  that  I  can  now  (August  17th)  reckon 
upon  about  five  hundred  dollars,  as  secured,  and  hope  to  get  the 
remainder  which  will  be  necessary.  Of  the  importance  of  such  an 
institution  in  the  West  there  can  be  no  question  ;  and  yet  I  expect 
that  some  of  those  for  whose  benefit  it  is  designed  w'ill  oppose  it 
with  all  their  might,  as  they  now  oppose  missions,  Bible  societies, 
and  Sunday-schools.  But  I  cannot  bear  that  our  preachers  in 
Illinois  and  Missouri  should  continue  as  ig-norant  as  some  of  them 
now  are.  There  are  some  who  wish  to  improve  their  minds,  and 
gain  useful  learning.  Young  men  who  commence  preaching  with 
very  inadequate  education  will  avail  themselves  of  such  a  school, 
with  immense  benefit  to  themselves  and  the  cause. 

When  it  is  considered  how  much  we  have  sacrificed  in  removing 
to  the  Western  country  to  promote  the  interests  of  religion  and 
the  welfare  of  society,  I  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  living  and 
dying  without  an  attempt  to  establish  an  institution  which,  by 
proper  measures,  may  grow  into  a  respectable  theological  school. 
I  hope  to  live  to  see  a  range  of  brick  buildings  put  up,  adequate  to 
accommodate  one  hundred  students,  and  w^here  a  regular  course  of 
instruction  can  be  enjoyed. 

To  qualify  himself  to  act  as  a  wise  pioneer  and  guide  in 
such  an  undertaking  he  managed  incidentally  to  visit  all  the 
similar  institutions  which  had  been  established — Columbian 
College,  Brown  University,  Hamilton  and  Newton  Institu- 
tions— and  learned  all  the  interesting  facts  in  regard  to  their 
beginning,  progress,  and  present  state,  thus  preparing  his 
own  mind  fully  with  all  the  needed  facts,  so  as  to  avoid  mis- 
takes and  secure  advantages. 


222  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

But  his  chief  labors  for  the  summer  months  of  this  year 
were  devoted  to  traveling  and  awakening  an  intelligent  in- 
terest among  churches,  pastors,  and  all  the  more  influential 
members  of  the  community,  in  regard  to  means  of  benefiting 
the  West  He  aimed  indeed  to  secure  contributions  to  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Society  of  Massachusetts,  by  which  he 
bad  been  commissioned  and  sent  forth  ;  but  it  was  obvious  to 
all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  that  he  aimed  less  at  get- 
ting as  many  dollars  as  possible  at  present  than  at  the  diffusing 
of  correct  information  which  would  lead  to  permanent  bene- 
factions for  this  work.  Well  did  he  understand  that  giving  a 
cup  of  cold  water  to  a  weary  pilgrim  in  the  desert  is  not 
comparable  in  its  abiding  good  influence  to  digging  a  well 
there,  which  may  remain  a  blessing  for  generations  to  come. 
During  these  three  months  he  traveled  chiefly  in  Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  Eastern  New  York, 
nearly  fourteen  hundred  miles,  and  laid  adequate  foundations, 
as  was  believed,  for  the  safe  and  successful  commencement 
of  all  parts  of  his  system  of  operations. 

Besides  this,  we  are  to  remember  that  he  went  everywhere 
with  his  eyes,  and  ears,  and  heart  open,  to  learn  and  appre- 
ciate whatever  was  excellent  and  worthy  of  imitation.  Occa- 
sional glintings  of  his  convictions — as  now  a  traveled  Yankee 
he  returned  to  investigate  more  broadly  and  compare  more 
justly  his  native  New  England  with  fairer  and  more  fertile 
regions  elsewhere — will  peep  out  in  his  journals  and  letters 
of  this  period.  He  particularly  remarked  with  some  aston- 
ishment the  littleness  and  narrowness  of  views,  the  hidebound 
prejudices  which  here  so  generally  prevailed,  as  they  were 
xiow  magnified  by  contrast.  But  he  did  full  justice,  at  the 
same  time,  to  the  taste,  the  moral  integrity,  the  industry  and 
sobriety,  as  well  as  the  provident  carefulness  (not  to  say  par- 
simony), which  he  here  witnessed.  Their  neat  and  inviting 
villages,  with  the  church-edifice  and  the  school-house  in 
central  prominence,  indicated  unmistakably  the  elements  of 
New  England's  welfare  and  happiness.  These,  too,  by  a 
species  of  social  transmission,  she  was  sending  abroad  and 


FILIAL   AFFECTION — RETURNS   WEST.  i  «^ 

planting  and  nurturing  all  over  the  fertile  West  lip-  e  was 
the  hedged-up  nursery,  where  the  seedlings  were  defended 
while  taking  root,  and,  if  need  be,  receiving  the  budding  or 
inoculation  which  insured  the  excellence  of  their  fruits.  "  But 
then,"  said  he,  "  they  need  to  be  transplanted  to  a  broader 
and  more  fertile  field,  where  they  will  have  ample  space  and 
\eYge  enough  to  be  rooted  in  our  broad,  rich  prairies,  and  bring 
forward  under  more  genial  skies  their  abundant  products." 

Very  pleasant  would  it  be  to  lead  our  readers  more  in 
detail,  to  follow  him  from  city  to  city,  from  village  to  village, 
from  the  college  halls  to  the  workshop  and  the  extensive 
manufactory,  during  these  months  of  exploration.  What  he 
then  and  there  learned  of  the  intellectual,  moral,  social,  and 
religious  principles  and  practices  of  New  England  w^as  of 
essential  service  to  him  ever  afterward.  But  we  dare  not 
dwell  longer  upon  this  topic. 

While  he  was  gaining  information  of  utmost  advantage  to 
himself,  he  was  also  continually  imparting  that  kind  of  definite, 
practical  knowledge  of  the  West,  its  allurements,  its  capabilities, 
its  wants  and  its  dangers,  which  was  greatly  conducive  to  its 
prosperity,  and  was  most  useful  and  necessary  for  those  who 
in  their  own  persons,  or  their  children  and  friends,  were  about 
to  transfer  themselves  or  their  interests  thither.  The  circu- 
lars which  he  distributed,  the  addresses,  lectures,  and  various 
appeals  which  he  delivered,  his  private  intercourse  in  the 
families  wherever  he  was  domiciled  for  an  hour,  a  day,  or  a 
half-week,  made  their  ineffaceable  impression  and  did  much 
good.  The  broad  catholicity  and  generous  liberalism  of  his 
view^s  was  also  at  this  time  and  ever  afterward  more  and 
more  evident.  He  was  not  less  a  Baptist,  thorough  and 
decided ;  but  he  learned  the  wisdom  and  advantage  of  heart- 
ily uttering  one  form  of  apostolical  benediction:  "Grace  be 
with  all  them  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity." 

It  had  almost  from  his  first  return  to  his  mother  been 
obvious  to  him  that  as  her  only  offspring  his  filial  duty  made 
it  imperative  that  he  should  render  her  few  remaining  days 
as  comfortable  as  possible.     She  was  in  comparative  poverty, 


224  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  TECK. 

and  he  saw  no  other  way  open  for  him  to  do  this,  but  to  pay 
her  debts  and  remove  her  to  his  home  in  the  West.  To  this 
proposition  she  cheerfully  consented.  About  the  middle  of 
September  he  had  accomplished  the  details  of  this  trouble- 
some business,  had  procured  an  easy  tv/o-horse  carriage,  built 
under  his  special  directions,  and  an  additional  horse,  and  set 
forth  with  his  mother  by  easy  stages  for  his  distant  home. 
Crossing  the  Hudson  river  at  Catskill,  he  visited  his  early 
home  at  New  Durham,  and  then  proceeded  by  the  way  of 
Buffalo  and  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  through  the 
great  State  of  Ohio  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  spent  several 
days  in  soliciting  and  purchasing  such  articles  as  he  most 
needed  for  the  building  of  his  seminary-edifice,  on  which  his 
heart  was  now  so  much  set.  The  cordial  approval  and  aid 
of  the  brethren  here  very  much  cheered  him.  Setting  forth 
again  he  was  favored  for  the  most  part  with  fine  weather  and 
roads,  and  made  good  progress.  He  stopped  at  one  or  two 
places  in  Central  Indiana  to  promote  the  objects  of  his  Bible 
society  agency,  and  reached  his  home  Thursday  evening  the 
23d  of  November,  having  rode  forty-four  miles  that  short  day. 
He  found  his  family  in  good  health,  and  overjoyed  to  see  him 
once  more  in  their  midst.  He  had  been  absent  nine  months 
and  one  day,  and  reached  home  just  one  day  earlier  than  he 
had  told  them  to  expect  him  when  he  wrote  to  them  of  his 
time  of  setting  out  on  his  return  journey  three  months  before. 
Devout,  grateful,  and  humble  are  the  acknowledgments  he 
records  of  the  Divine  goodness  to  himself  and  his  family 
during  this  period  of  their  separation.  But  specially  did  he 
record  with  overflowing  thankfulness  his  sense  of  the  Divine 
favor  in  so  prospering  the  great  objects  of  his  journey  that 
besides  securing  aid  for  the  support  of  many  preachers  in  this 
Western  field,  he  had  also  obtained  in  money,  building-mate- 
rials, and  books  and  apparatus  for  his  proposed  seminary, 
about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  or  three-fourths  of  what 
he  deemed  requisite  to  be  raised  abroad  for  setting  it  in  opera- 
tion. To  effect  this  he  had  traveled  by  land  and  water  in  his 
whole  journey  four  thousand  four  hundred  miles. 


NEED   OF   THEOLOGICAL   TKAINING.  225 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Establishment  of   Rock  Spring  Seminary. 

Kg  sooner  was  Mr.  Peck  fairly  at  home  again,  and  moving 
in  his  accustomed  circuit  among  his  brethren  and  neighbors 
in  that  region,  than  he  began  in  earnest  to  lead  their  minds 
to  the  same  conviction  which  he  had  long  entertained,  that 
one  prime  essential  for  the  religious  welfare  of  the  West  was 
the  establishment  of  a  seminary  of  a  comprehensive  and  some- 
what unique  character,  where  the  elements  of  a  good,  thor- 
ough, practical  English  education  should  be  open  to  all  on 
very  economical  principles,  and  where  teachers  of  common 
schools  could  receive  better  instruction  than  many  of  them 
had  enjoyed,  but  especially  (and  that  was  to  be  its  grand 
peculiarity)  where  ministers  of  the  gospel,  whether  young, 
or  farther  advanced  in  years,  could  come  and  spend  more 
or  less  time,  according  to  their  several  circumstances  and 
exigencies,  in  learning  those  things  in  which  their  deficien- 
cies were  the  most  painfully  felt,  pertaining  to  their  great 
duties  in  preaching  the  gospel  and  building  up  the  churches 
aright.  He  saw  plainly  that  to  lay  down  a  full  ordinary 
course,  embracing  two  years  to  fit  for  college,  and  four 
years  curriculum,  within  its  walls,  and  then  two  or  three 
years  of  theological  training  afterwards,  would  from  the  out- 
set repel  nine-tenths  of  those  whose  favor  it  was  so  important 
to  conciliate.  Abiding  cheerfully  b}^  the  old-fashioned  Baptist 
doctrine  that  the  churches  were  to  be  the-  judges  in  every  case 
whether  any  of  their  members  were  called  of  the  Lord  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and  that  those  thus  called  were  to  give 
themselves  to  study,  to  meditation,  to  reading,  to  doctrine 
[teaching],  that  their  profiting  might  appear  unto  all,  and 
they  be  enabled  to  make  full  proof  of  their  ministry,  he  could 
not  doubt  that,  in  circumstances  such  as  existed  in  the  vast 


226  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

Western  field,  where  in  the  little,  feeble  churches  so  many  of 
desirable  gifts  were  being  raised  up  to  labor  in  the  great 
spiritual  harvest  field,  many  of  them  would  be  found,  like 
xipollos,  taught  of  the  Lord,  i.e.,  regenerated,  and  fervent  in 
spirit,  i.e.,  imbued  with  a  noble  Christian  zeal,  who  would 
still  need  to  have  some  experienced  disciples,  like  Aquila  and 
Priscilla,  take  them  in  hand,  and  teach  them  the  way  of  the 
Lord  more  perfectly.  Occasionally  such  privileges  might  be 
secured  with  some  private  family,  or  in  traveling  with  some 
able  and  discreet  preacher.  But  such  opportunities  would  be 
ra-i-e. 

It  was  manifestly  needful  that  there  should  be  some  place  to 
which  such  young  or  inexperienced  ones  might  repair,  and 
receive  the  aid  which  they  so  much  needed.  Some  were 
called  to  preach  when  they  could  scarce  read  a  chapter  or  a 
hymn  intelligently.  How  obviously  requisite  that  they  should 
be  taught  to  read  the  Divine  word,  and  give  the  sense,  and  cause 
the  people  to  understand  the  records  contained  in  the  infalli'- 
hle  guide-book  !  It  is  scarcely  needful,  here,  to  go  over  this 
ground  more  thoroughly,  and  reproduce  the  arguments  and 
the  answers  to  objections  which  required  to  be  so  often  com- 
batted  forty  or  fifty  years  ago.  More  germane  to  the  present 
purpose  will  it  be  to  trace  with  some  minuteness  the  success- 
ful methods  employed  to  disarm  the  hostility  of  even  good 
men  to  this  enterprise  ;  to  root  out  the  prejudices,  and  correct 
the  misconceptions  which  unhappily  had  taken  possession  of 
their  minds,  and  bring  them  to  entertain  the  idea  of,  and  then 
co-operate  in  securing  the  facilities  which  such  an  institution 
would  afford.  To  this  end  his  correspondence,  his  visits,  his 
attendance  on  associations,  and  the  various  gatherings  where 
ministers  and  other  brethren  of  influence  came  together  were 
mainly  directed,  for  the  next  few  weeks  immediately  after  his 
return  from  his  eastern  tour.  True  there  were  other  duties, 
domestic  and  official,  which  engrossed  a  portion  of  his  time. 
He  was  obliged  to  enlarge  his  dwelling  to  make  a  comfortable 
suit  of  apartments  for  his  somewhat  uneasy  mother ;  and  he 
had  to  visit,  and  plan,  and  readjust  very  often  the  measures 


CONSTANT    LABORS — SEMINARY    BEGUN.  227 

for  the  resuscitation  of  the  White  Baptist  church  in  St. 
Louis,  which  often  seemed  nearly  extinct ;  and  he  had  to 
superintend  the  appointment  and  incipient  action  of  the  com- 
mittees of  superintendence,  for  selecting  and  locating  his 
circuit  preachers  in  three  great  States,  and  moreover  he  was 
the  secretary  and  chief  functionary  relied  on  for  promoting 
the  Bible  society  and  Sunday-school  interest  in  all  this  field. 
Nine  months  absence  had  accumulated  no  little  labor  in  all 
these  departments  on  his  hands.  Many  kinks  and  entangle- 
ments had  been  accumulating,  which  awaited  his  wise, 
energetic,  and  loving  efforts  to  smooth  out,  so  that  the  work 
might  again  go  forward  unimpeded*  When  with  all  this  you 
join  the  care  and  enterprise  devolving  on  him  alone,  to  pro- 
vide for  and  train  up  a  numerous  family,  with  but  slender  and, 
as  most  of  us  would  think,  altogether  inadequate  means,  no 
marvel  that  he  complains  of  over-work.  His  now  tender 
hands  he  had  to  ply  through  the  day  to  stone  and  brick  and 
mortar ;  and  at  night,  when  other  toiling  men  rested  from 
their  fatigue,  his  sore  and  stiffened  fingers  had  to  grasp  the 
pen  and  issue  as  many  epistles  during  the  long  evening  af 
most  leisurely  secretaries  could  think  it  possible  to  accomplisk 
in  the  whole  day.  It  would  be  easy  to  demonstrate  all  this 
multifarious  activity  of  these  important  months. 

Yet  in  the  midst  of  it  all,  he  appears  to  have  been  blessed 
with  unusual  enjoyments.  Such  acknowledgments  as  the 
following  occur  in  his  diary  at  this  period : 

I  have  enjoyed  a  peculiar  flow  of  religious  feeling,  with  only 
occasional  seasons  of  darkness,  when  fretted  by  the  vexations  of 
life.  Have  a  growing  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  especially  to  carry 
into  effect  the  public  measures  I  have  been  -maturing.  I  rise  early, 
between  five  and  six  o'clock  (this  was  mid-winter),  labor  on  with 
much  toil  and  fatigue,  incessantly,  and  cannot  retire  till  after  eleven 
o'clock.  Yet  I  burn  with  zeal  to  be  more  laborious  and  do  more 
good.  I  never  felt  so  far  removed  from  selfishness,  or  any  personal 
desires  or  aims.  I  am  somehow  pressed  forward  in  a  great  work. 
Vast  and  important  benefits  for  future  generations  seem  to  hang 
on  present  efforts.     Had  I  the  means  I  could  cheerfully  sacrifice 


228  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

thousands  for  the  good  of  the  cause ;  and  such  as  I  have  of  time, 
talents,  efforts,  endurance,  I  cheerfully  offer. 

After  visiting  Yandalia — then  the  seat  of  government  of 
Illinois — and  conferring  with  as  many  brethren,  ministers,  and 
public-spirited  citizens  as  possible,  as  well  as  writing  to  as 
many  more,  a  meeting  was  called  at  Rock  Spring  the  first 
of  January,  and  an  organization  of  trustees  effected,  with 
great  unanimity.  Thej  located  the  seminary,  on  land  given 
by  Mr.  Peck  for  this  purpose.  Early  in  February  he  con- 
tracted with  carpenters  to  put  up  and  cover  in  the  edifice.  II? 
was  raised  by  the  end  of  May.  ]N'early  every  thing  con- 
nected with  this  effort  rested  on  his  shoulders,  and  he  was 
constantly  performing  the  usual  work  of  two  or  three  men 
besides,  in  his  preaching,  his  agency  for  missions,  Bible  and 
tract  societies,  and  Sunday-schools.  It  can  scarcely  be 
claimed  that  all  this  was  just  as  well  done,  as  though  he 
could  have  given  more  undivided  attention  to  each  sphere  of 
service.  Occasionally  at  the  end  of  a  week  of  unintermitted 
and  harassing  over-work,  and  perplexing  care,  his  journal 
indicates  how  unfitted  he  felt  for  Sabbath  ministrations.  But 
his  rule  was  to  do  the  very  best  in  his  power  under  these  in- 
felicitous circumstances.  Subscriptions  for  the  seminary  had 
to  be  gatheied,  and  he  was  a  complete  factotum,  a  servant  of 
all  work,  in  the  general  organizations  he  had  originated. 

In  perusing  the  extensive  correspondence  which  he  held  with 
those  he  was  striving  to  interest  in  this  great  work  of  found- 
ing a  theological  and  high  school,  one  cannot  but  be  deeply 
impressed  with  the  variety  and  sturdy  character  of  the 
opposition  which  he  was  forced  to  grapple  with  and  overcome. 
Far  the  larger  number  of  so-called  Baptist  ministers  at  that 
day,  in  the  two  or  three  States  contiguous  to  this  institution, 
were  most  decidedly  opposed  to  this  movement.  In  the 
"Friends  of  Humanity"  or  emancipationists,  he  found  more 
favor  for  this  object,  and  though  he  never  joined  with  them 
in  their  peculiar  organization,  he  induced  a  large  proportion 
of  them  to  unite  with  him  in  carrying  out  this  and  most  of 
his  other  plans  for  evangelizing  purposes.     The  anti-mission 


ROCK   SPRING    SEMINARY   OPENED.  229 

Baptists  about  this  period  came  into  an  organization  by  tliem- 
seives,  sundering  cliurehes  and  associations  very  frequently  to 
secure  themselves  against  the  infection  of  contact  or  fellow- 
ship with  those  who  were  seeking  by  all  lawful  means  to  carry 
into  effect  our  Divine  Master's  great  commission — to  publish 
the  gospel  to  every  creature.  Thus  was  the  singular  spectacle 
presented  of  a  party  separating  themselves  from  their  brethren, 
denouncing  and  excluding  them,  on  the  pretence  of  greater 
piety  and  more  exact  conformity  to  New-Testament  order, 
'Whose  chief  peculiarity  consisted  in  their  opposition  to  the 
Saviour's  mandate,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  w^orld  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature" — evangelize  all  nations.  It  is  vain 
to  pretend  that  these  ministers  and  churches  were  only  oppos- 
ing some  (to  them)  objectionable  methods  of  complying  with 
the  risen  Saviour's  commission,  for  they  did  not  prosecute  any 
other  method.  Jealousy,  least  they  in  their  ignorance  should 
be  cast  into  the  shade — prejudice  which  shuts  itself  in  and 
will  not  come  to  the  light — and  the  covetousness  which 
grudges  any  expense  for  educational  or  evangelizing  purposes, 
were  probably  the  main  elements  of  this  opposition.  Mr.  Peck 
had  full  experience  of  their  combined  power.  But  he  had 
counted  the  cost,  and  now  set  his  face  like  a  flint  against  this 
array  of  opposition.  Slowly  and  with  difficulty  his  work  was 
going  on,  and  the  leaven  of  a  quickening  light  and  truth, 
most  salutary  in  its  effects,  was  permeating  the  mass  of  the 
Protestant  community.  This  whole  effort  for  raising  up  such 
a  seminary  in  such  a  community,  at  such  a  time,  reminds  one 
vividly  of  Nehemiah's  repairing  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  with 
the  weapons  of  defence  in  one  hand,  while  vigorously  build- 
ing up  with  the  other,  ^o  successful  was  the  effort  that  early 
in  September  a  boarding-house  was  raised,  and  1st  November, 
1827,  a  seminary  was  opened  for  the  admission  of  pupils. 
The  venerable.  Father  Joshua  Bradley  was  made  principal, 
Mr.  Peck  Professor  of  Theology,  and  other  professors  and 
tutors  were  secured,  so  that  very  soon  the  number  of  students 
flocking  to  enter  and  enjoy  its  advantages  far  exceeded  their 
most  sanguine  expectations.  This  very  success  embarrassed  • 
20 


230  MEMOIR  or  jaHN  m.  peck. 

them.  It  led  probably  to  some  extravagant  expectations 
which  could  not  be  realized,  and  as  this  mortifying  disappoint- 
ment met  them  in  the  face,  some  of  their  associates  were  dis- 
conraged  and  turned  back.  In  these  various  alternations  it 
is  most  cheering  to  witness  the  steadfast  zeal  of  the  chief 
founder.  Xever  for  a  moment  did  he  waver  ;  but  in  sunshine 
and  storm,  when  all  was  hopeful,  or  when  reverses  came  thick 
and  aggravatingly  upon  them,  he  yielded  to  no  discourage- 
ment, but  held  on  his  vigorous,  enterprising,  persistent  course. 
To  this  alone,  or  almost  alone,  was  it  owing  that  the  seminary; 
was  made  for  years  successful  and  eminently  useful,  until  its 
removal  to  another  locality  and  its  enlargement  to  a  college 
was  its  culminating  triumph. 

The  large  portion  of  the  pupils  at  first  came  together  with 
extravagant  ideas  of  what  was  to  be  done  for  them  by  a  few 
months  instruction.  They  verily  expected  to  be  made  very 
learned,  very  eloquent,  very  accomplished,  by  the  influence 
which  the  seminary  and  the  professors  were  to  exert  on  them  ; 
and  when,  after  three  or  four  quarters  instruction,  they  still 
found  themselves,  and  had  to  be  again  and  again  reminded, 
sometimes  in  a  way  unwelcome  to  their  pride,  that  they  were 
as  yet  but  mere  beginners,  it  was  easy  to  see  they  were  not 
satisfied,  and  that  the  way  to  account  for  their  disappointment, 
most  soothing  to  their  self-esteem,  was  to  throw  the  blame  on 
the  management  of  the  institution.  No  marvel,  therefore, 
that  complaints  became  rife,  and  changes  once  and  again  were 
made  to  meet  these  unreasonable  expectations. 

When  all  other  resources  failed  them,  the  usual  resort  was 
to  fall  back  on  Brother  Peck  or  his  family  If  no  one  else 
could  so  manage  the  boarding  department  of  the  seminary  as 
to  give  satisfaction,  an  appeal  was  made  to  Mrs.  Peck  whether 
she  would  not  consent,  rather  than  all  should  fail,  to  remove 
into  the  boarding-house  and  become  stewardess  and  matron. 
So  when  the  old  veteran  in  setting  academies  agoing — Father 
Bradley — was  unable  to  give  the  satisfaction  which  unreason- 
able expectations  demanded,  the  question  came  back  at  last, 
'  Will  not  our  professor  of  theology  consent  for  a  while  at 


TROUBLES  WITH  ST.  LOUIS  CHURCH.  231 

least  to  become  principal  of  the  literary  and  scientific  depart- 
ment also  ?"  Necessity  knows  no  law  but  the  hard  one  which 
it  makes,  and  submission  to  its  requirements  here  seemed  im- 
perative. 

All  this  would  have  been  less  intolerable,  but  for  the 
multifarious  cares  and  engagements  intc  which  already  he 
had  been  drawn.  There  were,  first  of  all,  the  complications 
and  embarrassments  connected  with  the  church  and  the  un- 
finished church-edifice  in  St.  Louis.  In  the  outset,  when  all 
was  fair  and  hopeful,  certain  brethren  who  had  some  little 
pecuniary  ability  were  induced  to  embark  it  in  that  most 
doubtful  and  hopeless  of  all  adventures,  a  loan  to  build  a 
meeting-house  for  a  fluctuating  and  uncertain  church.  Some 
of  these  generous  lenders  were  now  dead,  and  the  widows  and 
fatherless  children  became  clamorous  for  repayment.  Others 
feeling  that  their  claims  were  larger  and  just  as  sacred,  in- 
sisted on  sharing  equally  in  the  liquidation  attempted.  IS'or 
was  there  any  pecuniary  ability  now  in  the  church  to  meet 
these  demands.  Mr.  Peck  had  been  a  member  of  it  when 
the  debts  had  been  contracted,  and  though  having  no  money 
to  loan,  had  freely  given  his  name  on  notes,  which  w^ere  now 
presented  and  pressed  for  payment.  How  often,  in  all  these 
years  and  months  of  his  engrossing  cares  and  toils  at  home, 
does  the  item  creep  into  the  diary — "  Had  to  hurry  over  to  St. 
Louis  and  arrange  for  meeting  the  claims  of  the  creditors  of 
the  meeting-house,"  or  some  words  of  like  import.  These 
efforts  w^ere  for  the  most  part  temporary  palliatives,  delays, 
not  payments.  At  one  time,  near  the  close  of  1827,  he  met 
with  the  trustees  of  the  Baptist  church,  St.  Louis,  and  they 
"  agreed  to  divide  the  house,  pay  the  interest,  and  eventually 
liquidate  the  principal  of  the  old  debt,  and  put  the  rest  of  the 
building  in  a  state  of  repair."  Then,  before  he  left  the  city, 
he  learned  that  all  these  well-laid  plans  w^ere  likely  to  fail 
from  the  interference  of  the  municipal  government,  in  passing 
a  law  widening  a  street,  and  thus  cutting  off  twelve  feet  from 
the  side  of  the  house. 

On  another  occasion  he  w^ent  to   St.  Louis  to  attend  the 


232  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  TECK. 

annual  meeting  of  the  Western  Sunday-school  Union,  and 
found  to  his  mortification  and  grief  that  the  resident  managers 
had  made  no  preparation  whatever  for  the  meeting.  In  about 
as  much  impatience  as  ever  escaped  from  him,  he  says :  ''It 
seems  as  if  they  looked  to  me  to  go  forward  and  do  -every 
thing."  Patiently  and  resolutely  he  went  on  and  did  up  their 
neglected  duty  and  his  own  together — secured  the  meeting, 
though  by  very  great  efforts.  This  could  be  borne  occasionally, 
but  where  as  now  the  pressure  and  strain  became  habitual,  with 
no  relaxation  from  such  severe  tension,  the  healthful  vigor 
and  elasticity  of  mind  and  body  must  fail  together. 

In  the  meantime  God  was  preparing  some  alleviation  for 
his  over-burthened  servant  of  another  kind.  Revivals  began 
to  appear  in  several  parts,  of  his  wide  field  of  labor.  In  the 
poor,  cold,  and  long  dwindling  church  at  Fefee,  northwest  of 
St.  Louis,  in  Missouri,  at  Edwards ville,  and  at  the  seminary 
itself,  in  Illinois,  and  in  his  own  family ;  when,  on  returning 
home  from  a  preaching"  excursion  in  the  autumn  of  1828,  he 
found  to  his  inexpressible  satisfaction,  that  his  eldest  daughter 
had  experienced  the  converting  grace  of  God.  She  had  been 
under  conviction  for  some  time,  much  distressed,  and  while  in 
her  room  at  prayer  Sunday  night,  she  found  blessed  relief,  and 
broke  forth  into  shouts  of  praise.  Thus  while  her  toiling  father, 
many  miles  off,  was  preaching  the  gospel  to  others,  God  was 
pouring  into  the  heart  of  his  precious  child  the  consolations 
of  that  truth  which  he  was  proclaiming.  [He  was  preaching  at 
that  very  hour  from  1  John  iii.  1-3.]  How  sweetly  was  the 
promise  verified,  "  He  that  watereth  shall  be  watered." 

It  was  after  being  permitted  to  visit  and  mingle  in  these 
scenes  of  spiritual  refreshing  once  and  again,  in  the  different 
places  where  he  had  so  often  gone  forth  weeping,  bearing  the 
precious  seed,  that  he  was  forced  to  turn  away,  and  spend 
some  weeks  at  Yandalia,  endeavoring  to  secure  an  act  of  in- 
corporation for  the  infant  seminary.  Nothing  gives  a  truer 
index  of  his  really  spiritual  and  sanctified  nature  than  the 
repugnance  with  which  he  entered  upon  the  chilling  inter- 
course  with   these   worldlings.,   and   exchanged    the   blessed 


OPPOSITION    TO    THE    SEMINARY.  233 

scenes  of  revival  for  the  turmoil  and  vexation  of  political 
associations.  In  this  legislature  he  had  many  worthy  friends, 
and  the  incorporating  act  was  readily  enough  carried  through 
the  lower  house.  In  the  senate,  however,  was  one  anti- 
mission  Baptist  minister,  who  seemed  to  feel  a  malevolent 
delight  in  leaving  no  stone  unturned  to  foil  his  endeavor.  So 
nearly  was  this  body  balanced,  and  so  easy  was  it  for  this 
captious,  unscrupulous  hater  of  that  which  was  good  to  barter 
away  his  conscience,  his  principles,  and  his  manliness,  so  as 
to  bend  a  few  of  his  associates  to  do  his  bidding  in  this  matter, 
that  the  act  failed  of  a  passage  by  his  casting  vote.  This 
was  enough,  surely,  to  vex  a  more  phlegmatic  temperament ; 
but  it  is  delightful  to  see  how  Divine  grace  enabled  our 
brother  to  triumph  even  here.  He  breathes  no  maledictions, 
but  prays  for  his  opponent,  and  hopes  God  will  yet  open  his 
eyes  to  see  the  evil  of  his  course. 


234  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK, 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Establisliment  of  a  Religious  Newspaper  in  the  "West — Mission- 
ary Labors  and  Successes — Revivals  and  Candidates  for  the 
Ministry  Among  their  Fruits — Emigrant's  Guide— First  Visit  of 
Dr.  Going  to  the  West. 

Leaving  for  a  while  the  progress  of  the  seminary,  which 
Mr.  Peck  had  successfully  gotten  under  way,  we  shall  next 
find  him  very  earnestly  engaged  in  the  establishment  and 
actual  conducting  both  af3  editor  and  publisher  of  the  first 
religious  newspaper  in  that  wide  region  where  so  many  have 
since  flourished.  As  this  was  a  very  important  movement, 
and  moreover  as  at  the  time  and  subsequently  serious  doubts 
of  the  wisdom  of  this  procedure  were  entertained  among  his 
friends,  it  may  be  well  to  trace  with  some  care  the  idea  of 
originating  such  a  paper  to  its  first  inception.  Though  some 
overtures  had  been  made  to  him  several  years  before  by  Duff 
Green,  Esq.,  then  residing  in  St.  Louis,  to  occupy  a  portion 
of  the  columns  of  the  political  paper  he  was  there  conducting, 
of  which  to  a  very  limited  extent  Mr.  Peck  availed  himself, 
nothing  farther  in  this  direction  appears  to  have  engaged  his 
mind  till  near  the  close  of  the  year  182ir,  when  a  distinct 
overture  was  made  to  him  on  this  subject  from  Xew  England. 
A  Baptist  brother,  now  laid  aside  from  the  active  duties  of 
the  ministry  by  failure  of  his  voice,  had  his  mind  turned  to 
the  importance  of  using  the  religious  periodical  press  for  the 
purpose  of  counteracting  infidelity,  Romanism,  and  various 
forms  of  error  which  were  spreading  with  frightful  rapidity  in 
the  West. 

This  brother  was  now  residing  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston, 
where  the  Christian  Watchman,  the  earliest  of  Baptist  news- 
papers, had  for  ten  years  been  augmenting  and  diffusing  its 
benign  influence  ;  and  no  wonder  that  his  mind  eagerly  seized 
on  the  idea  of  inducing  Mr.  Peck,  among  his  other  means  of 


FIRST   AYESTERN   RELIGIOUS   NEWSPAPER.  235 

usefulness,  to  undertake  the  establishment  of  such  a  paper. 
He  was  written  to  on  the  subject,  and  the  distinct  proffer  of 
funds  to  a  considerable  extent  was  made  to  him,  to  enable 
him  to  secure  so  important  an  object.  His  own  mind,  ever 
eager,  enterprising,  and  almost  too  grasping  in  its  conceptions 
of  the  possibilities  of  success,  was  ready  at  once  to  entertain 
the  idea,  and  he  began  casting  around  him  for  the  means  of 
carrying  it  into  effect.  Among  his  acquaintances  at  this  period 
there  w^as  one  individual,  Kev.  Thomas  P.  Green,  resident  on 
the  borders  of  Missouri  and  Illinois,  who  had  been  educating 
his  sons  as  practical  printers,  and  who  had  himself  attained 
some  little  experience  in  conducting  a  w^eekly  journal  of  very 
limited  circulation.  The  idea  at  once  suggested  itself  that 
this  man  might  be  induced  to  remove  to  St.  Louis  or  to  Rock 
Spring,  bring  his  printing  office  along  with  him,  and  might  be 
made  useful  in  preaching,  partly  editing  and  taking  the  general 
oversight  of  the  business  transactions  of  the  proposed  paper, 
while  himself  would  give  so  much  time  to  writing  and  select- 
ing matter  for  it,  as  would  multiply  his  own  efiiciency,  giving  a 
wider  extent  and  more  of  ubiquitous  presence  and  influence 
to  what  he  might  thus  communicate  over  the  vast  region 
where,  with  much  toil  and  exposure,  he  had  traveled  and 
preached  at  comparatively  remote  periods,  for  so  many  years. 
Yery  naturally  we  may  see  how  welcome  would  be  such  a 
proposition  to  his  mind.  He  was,  by  this  time,  somewhat 
wearied  with  the  futile  endeavor  of  keeping  things  in  good  order 
through  the  two  or  three  large  States  over  which  his  duties 
of  supervision,  and  the  .various  kinds  of  evangelizing  labors 
confided  to  him,  had  extended.  When  by  personal  inter- 
course with  his  brethren  he  had  measurably  removed  their 
prejudices,  and  partially  imbued  them  with  his  owti  spirit,  and 
induced  their  seeming  co-operation  with  him  in  some  of  his 
important  missionary  or  other  plans  of  doing  religious  good, 
he  would  be  surprised  and  mortified  to  find  that  before  he  could 
again  visit  them,  his  opponents  would  upset  his  plans  and 
frustrate  his  begun  labors,  so  that  his  work  would  have  to 
be  begun  over  again  with  increased  embarrassment.     In  the 


236  MEMOIPc    OF    JOHN    M.  PECK. 

absence  of  any  well-conducted  periodical  publications,  pam- 
phlets— some  of  them  sufficiently  low,  scurrilous  and  de- 
moralizing to  do  immense  harm — were  circulating  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  without  any  facilities  for  warning  the  public 
against  their  untruthfulness  and  perverse  tendencies.  He 
saw,  too,  the  advance  which  had  been  made  in  the  Atlantic 
States,  where  papers  were  beginning  to  be  widely  circulated, 
and  attributing  too  much  of  this  effect  very  likely  to  this  one 
cause,  he  the  more  impatiently  desired  the  same  aids,  where, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  their  availability  would  be  less. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  balance  sheet,  there  were  also 
weighty  reasons  to  dissuade  from  any  such  attempts.  In  the 
first  place,  the  inadequacy  of  means.  By  all  his  fervent 
appeals  for  supplying  the  wants  of  the  mighty  West,  the 
help  requisite  for  sustaining  or  half  sustaining  half  a  dozen 
missionaries  in  half  as  many  States,  could  scarcely  be  relied 
on  ;  and  some  years  it  had  fallen  off  to  a  sad  extent.  It  was 
obvious  to  every  considerate  mind  that  besides  what  the  dis- 
abled clerical  brother  had  offered  to  furnish  him,  quite  as  much 
more  would  be  indispensable,  even  to  establish  such  a  paper, 
and  then  its  current  receipts  for  a  year  or  two  would  not 
equal  its  current  expenses.  Next,  it  was  reasonably  enough 
urged,  "  How  can  one  man,  even  with  hands  of  Briareus,  and 
eyes  of  Argus,  attempt  so  many  distinct  kinds  of  labor,  with- 
out the  danger  of  embarrassing  or  ruining  all  of  them  ?" 
The  argumentum  ad  hominem  was  here  plied  most  vigorously 
against  this  new  proposition.  ''  Why  does  this  man,  who  is 
crying  out  under  the  burdens  he  now  has  on  his  shoulders, 
seek  to  accumulate  more  and  heavier  still ;  the  result  of  which 
will  be  either  to  withdraw  his  needed  support  from  enterprises 
which  even  now  languish  and  fall  into  discouragement  for  want 
of  his  more  steady  supervision,  or  to  make  what  he  now  pro- 
])oses  abortive,  by  his  inadequate  time  and  vigor  to  give  it 
vitality  ?"  Even  his  tried  and  long-confiding  friends,  the 
executive  officers  of  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Missionary 
Society,  could  not  but  urge  him  to  desist;  and  some  of  their 
letters,  after  their  earlier  hints  and  suggestions  had  proved  un- 


REASONS  FOR  AND  AGAINST  A  PAPER.        23 1 

availing  to  arrest  his  course,  seemed  to  him  at  the  time,  as  they 
now  do  on  the  calm  review,  very  stringent,  and  almost  severe 
in  the  demand  they  made  on  him  to  abandon  this  new  and 
costly,  and,  as  it  seemed  to  the  writers,  impracticable  and  un- 
wise enterprise.  They  remind  him  that  his  first  endeavor, 
the  establishing  of  a  Baptist  church  in  St.  Louis,  had  becom(3 
very  near  a  failure,  and  its  church-edifice  was  about  to  bo 
sold,  after  so  many  appeals  had  been  made  to  free  it  from 
debt.  Did  he  want,  on  that  same  spot,  to  lay  another  founda- 
tion, and  not  being  able  to  build,  to  excite  the  mockery  of 
beholders  by  another  spectacle  of  miscalculation  ? 

And  finally,  these  opposers  ventured  to  suggest  to  him  that 
the  time  for  the  success  of  such  an  enterprise  had  not  yet 
come.  The  people  of  those  new  States  and  Territories  were 
most  of  them  very  recent  settlers,  having  as  jet  almost  every 
thing  necessary  for  their  existence  to  secure,  and  they  would 
not  now  be  likely  to  patronize  such  a  paper.  They  had  little 
time  to  read  it,  little  means  to  pay  for  it,  and,  if  possible,  less 
disposition  to  encourage  the  eliort,  for  the  sake  of  what  good 
it  might  do  for  others.  Thirty  years  ago  those  removing  into 
the  wilderness,  even  from  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  and 
much  less  those  from  other  quarters,  had  not  oeen  so  accus- 
tomed to  the  weekly  visits  of  a  religious  newspaper  as  to  miss 
it,  and  sigh  for  it  again.  Doubtless  it  would  be  needed  here- 
after ;  but  they  argued  with  much  plausibility,  certainly,  that 
the  time  had  not  3^et  come.  Could  they  have  clearly  foreseen 
the  future  v/orking  of  this  paper,  under  the  editorship  of  our 
worthy  and  self-sacrificing  brother,  they  would  have  urged 
another  reason,  not  less  potent  than  these  above  adduced  by 
them,  viz.  :  that  his  identification  with  it,  as  chief  manager, 
would  fill  to  overflowing  the  bitter  cup  of  suspicion  and 
jealous}^  of  himself  personally,  which  already  he  had  tasted 
of  repeatedly.  Men  older  than  himself,  who  in  this  and  oth^er 
countries  had  been  wont  to  find  themselves  looked  up  to  as 
wise  and  capable,  must  have  found  it  somewhat  humiliating 
to  their  self-esteem  that  this  young  New  Englander  managed 
their  missionarv,  their  educational,  their  Bible  and  Sunday- 


•238  MEMOIR   OF    JOHN    M.  TECK. 

school  affairs,  and  now  sought  to  vault  into  the  editorial  chair 
also,  and  thus  form  public  opinion  to  suit  himself,  while  they 
all  were  obliged  to  follow  in  his  train.  From  this  cause,  as 
the  sequel  showed,  he  suffered  more  grief,  inconvenience,  and 
the  peril  of  alienation  from  choice  friends  than  from  almost 
all  other  infelicities  combined. 

It  should  occasion  no  surprise  that  the  above  weighty 
objections  held  back  the  establishment  of  the  paper  for  more 
than  a  year.  True,  there  were  make- weights  on  the  favorable 
side.  While  some  of  his  most  valued  correspondents  dis- 
suaded, as  above  shown,  others  with  scarcely  less  ardor 
advocated  the  measure.  Among  this  latter  class  was  the 
Hon.  Nicholas  Brown,  of  Providence,  K. I.,  who  wrote  him 
frequently,  and  with  a  steadiness  and  zeal  characteristic  of 
that  great  and  good  man.  He  was  accustom.ed  to  back  up  his 
encouraging  words  of  counsel  by  acts  of  liberality,  and  hints 
and  provocatives  of  various  kinds  made  to  bear  efficiently  in 
favor  of  the  evangelizing  work  in  different  quarters  wherever 
he  learned  that  these  helps  were  most  necessary.  This  very 
wise  and  far-seeing  man,  though  he  never  personally  visited 
the  West,  had  formed  a  more  accurate  idea  of  its  ultimate 
and  not  very  remote  relative  importance  than  hundreds  who 
had  traveled  widely,  seen  much,  but  thought  less  on  this  vast 
problem  of  our  whole  country's  improvement  than  himself.  He 
pursued  one  method  which  had  commended  itself  to  his  judg- 
ment for  interesting  those  whose  co-operation  seemed  to  him 
desirable  in  certain  efforts,  by  making  them  the  almoners  of 
his  bounty.  It  was  not  unusual  for  him,  quite  unsolicited,  to 
drop  the  hint  in  correspondence  or  in  conversation  with  some 
one  in  whom  he  thought  it  safe  to  confide.  "Will  you  look 
into  such  or  such  a  case,  and  if  you  think  it  practicable  I 
authorize  you  to  draw  on  me  for  one  or  two  hundred  dollars  to 
promote  it."  It  seemed  to  the  individuals  addressed  that 
Mr.  Brown  was  only  saving  himself  care,  and  labor,  and  time, 
by  using  them  for  his  mere  convenience  to  examine  such 
ca^es,  whereas  the  real  point  aimed  at  was  to  induce  them  to 
inquire  and  investigate  for  the  sake  of  interesting  their  own 


THE    PIONEER    ESTABLISHED.  239 

mlads  more  deeply  in  what  he  was  satisfied  was  a  worthy 
object  and  needed  their  co-operation  for  its  successful  prose- 
cution. Probably  in  this  very  case  he  won  over  the  influence 
of  several  to  aid  this  plan  of  a  religious  paper  in  the  West, 
who  otherwise  might  have  stood  aloof,  by  the  judicious  divi- 
sion through  them  of  timely  aid,  which  would  have  been  less 
efficient  if  given  in  the  lump,  and  more  directly  from  his  owd 
hand. 

After  considerable  delay,  and  with  enough  misgivings  on 
the  part  of  many  friends  Xp  awaken  the  deepest  solicitude  in 
reference  to  its  success,  near  the  close  of  the  year  1828  an  en- 
gagement was  entered  into  between  the  Rev.  T.  P.  Green  on 
the  one  side,  and  Mr.  Peck  on  the  other,  for  issuing  the  pro- 
posed religious  paper.  For  economy's  sake,  and  to  make  it 
more  convenient  for  Mr.  Peck  to  conduct  it,  they  had  determ- 
ined that  it  should  be  issued  from  Hock  Spring  instead  of 
St.  Louis — a  great  mistake,  certainly,  so  far  as  the  success 
of  the  paper  was  concerned.  One-half  the  funds  were  fur- 
nished by  Eastern  friends,  and  Mr.  Peck  was  to  be  its  editor, 
while  the  other  half  was  to  be  put  into  the  concern  by  Mr. 
Green,  who  was  to  superintend  the  printing  and  publication, 
and  for  this  purpose  removed  to  Rock  Spring  with  his  family, 
some  of  whom  would  attend  the  school.  The  Eastern  donors 
had  stipulated  that  the  share  of  profits  from  the  printing- 
establishment  and  the  subscriptions  to  the  paper  over  and 
above  paying  current  expenses,  Avhich  their  donation  would 
be  entitled  to  claim,  should  be  given  to  the  seminary.  But 
alas  for  the  profits! 

The  prospectus  was  issued  about  the  middle  of  December, 
1828,  and  the  25th  of  the  following  April  the  first  number  of 
the  paper,  called  the  Pioneer,  appeared.  The  remark  was 
currently  made  that  "  it  looked  well,  and  it  was  hoped  that  it 
might  succeed  and  do  much  good."  The  bona  fide  subscribers 
were  very  few,  but  then  and  long  afterward  it  was  sent  to 
many  whom  it  was  hoped  to  induce  to  become  its  efficient 
patrons,  but  who  would  pay  for  it  or  not  as  suited  their  eon- 


240  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK, 

venience.     Rather  a  precarious  reliance,  surel}",  for  sustaining 
printers  and  paper-makers. 

In  the  meantime  revivals  were  appearing  to  cheer  his  heart 
and  encourage  the  supporters  of  the  mission.  The  details  of 
these  were  exceedingly  interesting  at  the  time,  but  room  can- 
not be  given  for  their  insertion.     Summarily  it  may  be  stated  : 

Churches  in  the  Missouri  Association  are  under  a  reviving  influ- 
ence, for  this  work  is  spreading  through  several  churches — St.  Louis, 
Bonhomme,  Good  Hope,  and  others.  At  Eock  Spring  there  was 
considerable  religious  excitement,  especially  among  the  students, 
and  the  seminary  was  rising  in  public  esteem. 

Arrangements  were  now  making  to  establish  a  depository  at 
Edwardsville  of  the  Baptist  General  Tract  Society.  As  a  traveling 
missionary  I  have  been  employed  at  those  points  where  it  appeared 
that  most  good  could  be  done  to  promote  the  general  cause,  and  so 
far  as  I  can  judge  from  the  excitement  of  the  public  mind  with 
better  success  than  at  any  former  period. 

As  the  fruitt?  of  these  revivals,  several  promising  candidates 
for  the  Christian  ministry  were  brought  into  the  churches ; 
and  the  pleadings  of  Mr.  Peck  for  aid  in  sustaining  those  who 
were  indigent  in  a  shorter  or  longer  course  of  studies,  to 
increase  their  usefulness,  were  heart-moving. 

We  have  thus  seen  the  inception  of  the  various  interlinked 
and  co-operative  plans  of  evangelization,  progressively  set  on 
foot  by  Mr.  Peck  and  his  coadjutors  in  the  vast  field  of  their 
toil  and  care  for  the  first  dozen  years  of  his  residence  in  it. 
First,  preaching  the  gospel  and  establishing  churches ;  next, 
promoting  the  wide  and  general  diffusion  of  the  Word  of  God  • 
then  following  up  these  by  Sunday-schools  to  teach  childrer 
and  adults  to  some  extent  to  read  and  appreciate  the  Scrip 
tures ;  then,  finally,  the  seminary  to  prepare  teachers  for 
common  schools  and  aid  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  their 
preparation  for  higher  usefulness ;  with  the  religious  news- 
paper to  diffuse  more  equally,  and  sustain  more  constantly, 
and  quicken  more  energetically,  and  defend  resolutely  and 
wisely,  all  these  means  of  usefulness.  Look  at  him  now,  as 
seated  in  the  center  of  all  this  diversified  plan  of  onerations, 


MR.  peck's  labors  EXTENDED.  241 

watching  with  deepest  solicitude  the  working  of  every  part, 
endeavoring  to  impart  strength  to  what  was  feeble,  a  far- 
seeing  wisdom  to  what  Avas  short-sighted,  and  the  vigor  and 
purity  of  hol}^  love  to  what  was  constantly  in  danger  of  de- 
generating into  formalism  and  partyism  for  the  want  of  it. 
The  3^ears  1829  and  1830,  while  furnishing  little  of  marked 
and  noticeable  peculiarity,  were  characterized  by  a  steady 
persistence  in  the  wide  round  of  accustomed  duties,  evincing 
variety  in  the  midst  of  uniformity,  and  calling  for  sleepless 
vigilance  on  his  part  to  preserve  the  harmonious  action  of  all 
the  agencies  called  into  operation  for  the  promotion  of  the 
common  cause.  Soon  as  he  could  be  freed  from  daily  service 
in  the  management  of  or  instruction  in  the  seminary,  he  set 
forth  again  in  those  monthly  or  quarterly  preaching  tours 
throughout  Missouri,  with  Central  and  Southern  Illinois,  and 
occasional  extensions  into  Western  Indiana,  where  though 
the  ostensible  object  was  to  meet  a  line  of  appointments  for 
churches  and  congregations  almost  every  day  of  the  week, 
yet  he  did  incidentally  make  these  tours  promotive  of  all  the 
other  parts  of  the  evangelizing  process.  He  watched  over 
and  infused  vigor  and  steadiness  into  Sunday-schools  and 
Bible  societies,  looked  out  students  for  the  seminary  and  sub- 
scribers for  the  Pioneer,  while  in  his  private  intercourse  he 
was  assiduously  striving  to  weed  out  petty  jealousies  and 
misconceptions  among  ministers  and  private  brethren,  and 
elevate  the  aims  and  efforts  of  all  to  a  worthier  appreciation 
of  the  dignity  and  blessedness  of  laboring  and  making  sacri- 
fices for  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer  and  the  best  welfare  of 
souls. 

While  thus  employed,  towards  the  close  of  1829  he  received, 
unsolicited  on  his  part,  a  pressing  request  to  engage  for  a 
portion  of  his  time  in  the  service  of  the  American  Bible 
Society,  then  very  earnestly  endeavoring  to  supply  every 
family  accessible  with  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures.  What  the 
society  asked  of  him  was  to  superintend  this  work  and  select 
and  recommend  for  appointment  suitable  agents  to  canvass 
the  States  of  Illinois  and  Indiana,  so  as  to  see  to  it  that 
21 


242  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

this  great  work  was  faithfully,  promptly,  and  economically 
performed.  Of  course  he  could  not  decline  such  a  service, 
and  he  gave  to  it  considerable  of  his  time  for  that  and  the 
early  part  of  the  following  year.  Copies  of  the  monthly 
re,ports  which  ho  made  to  the  Secretary  from  December,  1829, 
to  May,  1830,  are  among  his  correspondence,  and  they  evince 
his  usual  vigor  and  fidelity.  Before  this  work  was  completed 
he  was  again  obliged  to  take  the  superintendence  of  the 
instruction  and  government  of  the  Rock  Spring  Seminary, 
and  of  course  resigned  the  Bible  agency. 

Nor  were  his  labors  by  any  means  confined  to  these  depart- 
ments. By  his  travels  and  what  he  had  published  in  the 
various  periodicals  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  the 
attention  of  great  numbers  had  been  turned  to  him  as  more 
competent  than  any  one  else  to  answer  their  inquiries ;  and 
the  large  bundles  of  letters  addressed  to  him  by  all  sorts  of 
persons  for  all  the  various  purposes  which  can  be  conceived, 
begging  him  to  ansvver  them  very  fully  and  promptly,  would 
have  required  most  men  to  employ  a  pi*ivate  secretary  con- 
stantly to  give  the  desired  information.  As  a  very  large  part 
of  this  was  of  a  merely  secular  character,  designed  to  settle 
the  doubts  and  facilitate  the  emigration  of  those  revolving 
the  question  of  a  removal  to  the  great  West,  the  idea  natu- 
rally enough  suggested  itself  to  his  mind  that  a  printed 
manual  for  the  answ^er  of  such  inquiries  would  be  fuller  and 
more  s.atisfactory  than  he  could  afford  to  make  each  letter 
answering  the  questions  put  to  him.  This  idea  originated 
his  ''  Guide  for  Emigrants,"  which  was  enlarged  in  its  exe- 
cution to  a  good-sized  volume,  and  was  very  popular  and 
useful.  In  preparing  it,  along  with  his  labor  as  principal  of 
the  seminary,  editor  of  the  Pioneer,  and  all  the  other  duties 
of  correspondence  and  domestic  care,  he  was  frequently 
obliged  to  spend,  week  after  week,  sixteen  hours  a  day 
cither  teaching  in  the  seminary  or  writing  at  his  desk.  Xo 
wonder  that  this  extra  labor  broke  him  down.  Dyspepsia, 
instead  of  bein":  occasional,  became  chronic,  and  before  the 


MR.  PECK   ENCOURAGED — DR.  GOINQ.  243 

end  of  the  session  in  1831  be  was  obliged  to  dismiss  tbe 
school  and  seek  relief  from  this  exhausting  toil. 

Some  of  the  correspondence  of  this  period,  however,  was 
of  a  character  greatly  to  cheer  and  encourage  bis  heart.  Of 
this  description  was  that  commenced  with*  him  by  tbe  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  Hamilton  Theological  Institution,  Xew 
York.  Several  of  the  most  promising  young  men  of  that 
school  of  the  prophets  early  caught  from  bis  circulars  and 
appeals  the  spirit  of  emulous  desire  to  devote  themselves  to 
the  great  valley  of  the  West.  They  wrote  to  him,  both  offi- 
cially and  individually;  and  such  letters  as  those  of  H.  C. 
Skinner,  Moses  Field,  and  J.  L.  Moore,  students  or  recent 
graduates,  who  were  in  heart  devoted  to  that  field,  and  were 
each  month  and  week  becoming  a  quickening  leaven  to  vital- 
ize those  with  whom  they  came  in  contact  with  the  same 
spirit,  are  refreshing  to  read  even  now.  What  must  they 
have  proved  to  Mr.  Peck  himself  but  as  cold  water  to  the 
thirsty  ! 

At  just  this  period  also,  and  as  one  result  of  tbe  labors  be 
was  performing  and  bis  loud  cries  for  help,  tbe  hearts  of  bis 
Eastern  brethren  were  beginning  to  warm  towards  him  and 
his  great  enterprise  in  a  degree  before  unprecedented.  He 
bad  been  for  ten  or  more  years  the  missionary,  or  superin- 
tending agent  for  missionaries,  for  the  Baptist  Missionary 
Society  of  Massachusetts,  and  as  bis  reports  became  more 
and  more  cheering,  and  were  widely  perused  there,  and  in  all 
the  Middle  and  Eastern  States,  the  conviction  was  strength- 
ening that  Baptists  had  a  work  to  do  in  the  West,  which 
really  required  an  organized  and  efficient  society  for  its  prose- 
cution more  commensurate  with  its  magnitude  than  any  single 
State.  Dr.  Jonathan  Going  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  who  bad 
been  intimately  associated  with  Mr.  Peck  when  tbe  latter 
visited  the  East  in  1826,  and  who  for  the  next  five  or  six 
years  bad  kept  up  a  deeply-interesting  correspondence  with 
him  on  tbe  best  ways  and  means  of  arousing  tbe  evangelized 
portions  of  our  whole  country  to  care  efficiently  and  ade- 
quately for  tbe  condition   of  the- destitute,  was   this  year 


244  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  TECK. 

deputed  to  visit  him  on  his  field  of  labor,  and  by  extensive 
personal  intercourse  with  him  and  all  others  similarly  eu' 
gaged,  to  devise  the  best  means  for  promoting  home  missions. 

The  following  very  simple  item  occurs  in  our  brother's 
diary  under  date  of  June  20th,  1831 :  "  To-day  Elder  J.  Going, 
of  Massachusetts,  sent  out  to  explore  the  condition  of  the 
Baptists  in  the  West,  arrived  at  my  house." 

Very  earnestly  did  these  men  of  kindred  spirit,  worthy  to 
be  reckoned  "  true  yoke-fellows,"  devote  themselves  for  the 
next  three  months  to  canvassing  the  mighty  problem  :  "  How 
can  the  great  work  of  home-evangelization  be  most  efficiently 
promoted  ?"  They  traveled  together  by  day  and  by  night, 
in  sunshine  and  in  storm,  through  large  portions  of  Illinois. 
Missouri,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky.  They  conferred  with  all 
the  more  intelligent  and  pious  ministers  and  laymen ;  at- 
tended associations,  churches,  camp-meetings,  and  all  other 
gatherings  of  Baptists,  as  far  as  practicable  ;  inquired  and 
consulted,  wept  and  '^Ji-ayed  and  rejoiced  together ;  and, 
finally,  just  before  they  parted  in  September  following,  at 
Shelby ville,  Ky.,  there  occurs  the  following  note  in  Mr.  Peck's 
journal :  "  Here  we  agreed  on  the  plan  of  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society."  The  next  morning  he 
records  :  "  I  parted  with  Elder  Going  to  proceed  homeward." 
The  journal  of  all  this  period  of  the  intercourse  of  these  great 
and  good  men  extends  to  thirty  quarto  pages  of  manuscript. 
But  it  is  more  brief  and  condensed  than  usual,  plainly  indi- 
cating how  much  their  minds  were  absorbed  by  the  great  and 
morally  sublime  theme  which  they  were  now  canvassing  ;  and 
how  much  more  they  thought,  and  inquired,  and  weighed  the 
difficulties  and  capabilities  of  the  proposed  organization  than 
were  they  disposed  to  give  written  expression  and  permanent 
record  to  their  plans.  Nor  did  they  confine  themselves  to 
plans  for  the  future,  but  indefatigably  labored,  preached,  ex- 
horted, instructed  inquirers,  promoted  revivals,  and  in  all 
practicable  ways  sought  the  present  benefit  of  the  cause. 

The  very  next  day  after  these  brethren  parted,  and  per- 
adventure  in  part  at  least  in  that  spirit  of  sadness  which  the 


MR.  peck's  self-examixatiox.  245 

Joss  of  suc7)  companionship  not  rarely  induces,  occurs  the 
following  private  entry  in  the  diary  of  Mr.  Peck  :  "  I  traveled 
all  day,  calling  only  at  taverns  for  refreshment,  and  reached 
a  Mr.  Osborne's — a  Quaker  family — four  miles  west  of  Paoli. 
My  mind  is  exceedingly  wrong  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
Tain,  wicked,  and  foolish  thoughts  possess  me."  After  much 
more  of  the  same  character,  he  devoutly  prays  :  "  Lord, 
revive  me,  sanctify  me  wholly,  and  cause  me  to  be  entirely 
devoted  to  thee." 

In  his  earlier  years  such  humiliating  confessions  abound  in 
his  journals,  and  many  pages  might  be  filled  with  their 
transcript.  But  they  are  less  and  less  seen  in  all  the  later 
portions ;  and  here  they  are,  in  part — at  least  much  more 
than  he  was  aware — the  effect  of  external  causes.  For 
months  he  had  enjoyed  the  cheering  companionship  of  one  of 
the  best  and  most  genial  Christian  associates.  After  long, 
anxious,  and  intensely  prayerful  deliberation,  they  had  care- 
fully reached  and  matured  the  most  feasible  plan  which  they 
could  devise,  and  having  given  to  it  the  last  finishing  revision, 
and  parted  company,  no  marvel  that  the  tensity  of  mind  sud- 
denly relaxing,  accompanied  as  it  was  by  his  utter  loneliness 
and  listlessness,  brought  on  a  mental  revulsion,  which  his 
morbid  sensitiveness  records  in  the  above  self-condemnatory 
language.  Thus  it  is  physically  as  well  as  mentally.  The 
])est  and  wisest  physicians,  after  long  experience,  do  not  trust 
their  ability  to  prescribe  for  themselves,  because  of  the  dis- 
turbing influence  of  disease  on  their  discernment,  and  on  the 
equableness  of  their  judgment. 

Not  many  days  passed  before  he  acknowledges  an  entire 
change  in  all  his  spiritual  convictions.  He  is  as  fully  imbued 
with  holy  zeal  and  engagedness,  and  evinces  as  deep  a  con- 
cern for  the  glory  of  his  Saviour,  and  the  welfare  of  perishing 
souls  as  ever  before  ;  and  God  is  graciously  blessing  his  labors 
for  the  conversion  of  the  perishing.  Such  alternations  from 
depth  to  height  are  characteristic  of  many,  and  he  who  learns 
to  make  the  proper  abatement  from  both  extremes  has  gained 
one  important  point  in  the  rare  attainment  of  self-inspection. 


246  MEMOIR   OF  JOHN   M.  PECK. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

The  Black  Hawk  War,  its  Origin,  Battles  and  Termination — Revivals 
— Opposition — State  Organizations  for  Evangelization — Gazetteer 
of  Illinois. 

About  this  period  also,  that  is  through  the  summer  of  1831, 
and  1832,  wherever  his  preaching  excursions  led  him,  in 
Central  and  Northern  Illinois  especially,  Mr.  Peck  found  the 
public  mind  much  agitated  by  fears  of  Indian  aggressions, 
and  still  more  by  the  efforts  set  on  foot  and  prosecuted  with 
considerable  vigor,  for  the  extermination  of  these  poor  miser- 
able remains  of  the  aboriginal  tribes.  He  does  not  seem  to 
have  entered  into  the  spirit  of  these  measures  as  did  many  of 
his  brethren  ;  but  their  engrossment  with  these  matters  very 
much  hindered  his  religious  efforts  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
these  new  settlements,  and  the  subject  in  this  aspect  finds  fre- 
quent mention  in  his  journals  and  correspondence. 

To  ma.ke  some  of  these  notices  intelligible  it  may  be  re- 
quisite to  give,  in  his  own  words,  a  brief  outline  of  what  was 
popularly  known  as  the  Black  Hawk  war.  A  condensed 
statement  only,  will  be  necessary,  and  this  as  far  as  possible 
shall  be  given  in  his  own  language. 

Black  Hawk  never  was  a  chief,  never  was  recognized  as  such  either 
by  Indian  authority  or  by  the  United  States.  He  was  a  brave,  in  the 
Indian  designation,  of  the  Sauk  tribe,  first  heard  of  in  the  closing 
scene?  of  the  war  of  1812-15,  who  was  able  to  gather  around  him  a 
small  party  of  disaffected  spirits ;  refused  to  attend  the  negotiations 
of  1816  ;  went  to  Canada,  prockiimed  himself  and  his  party  British 
subjects,  and  received  presents  from  that  quarter.  AVhen,  about  the 
year  1828,  Keokuk  was  appointed  chief  of  the  Sauk  nation,  and  in 
accordance  with  treaties  made  with  the  United  States,  proclamation 
was  made  that  the  Indians  were  now  bound  by  their  treaty  engage- 
ments to  leave  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  when  a 
portion  of  the  tribe,  under  their  regular  chiefs,  wuth  Keokuk  at 


THE   BLACK   HAWK   WAR.  247 

their  head,  actually  retired  across  the  Mississippi,  Black  ilawk 
refused  to  acknowledge  this  authority,  and  gathering  around  him 
all  the  restless  spirits  he  could  muster,  he  set  himself  up  as  a 
chief  in  opposition  to  Keokuk.  Up  to  this  time  he  continued  his 
annual  visits  to  Maiden,  in  Canada,  and  received  his  annuity  for 
allegiance  to  the  British  government.  Though  he  had  not  the 
talent  or  influence  of  a  Tecumseh  to  form  any  general  and  com- 
prehensive scheme  of  action,  yet  he  did  make  an  abortive  attempt 
to  unite  all  the  Indians  of  the  West,  from  Rock  river  to  Mexico, 
in  a  war  against  the  United  States.  For  this  purpose  he  acknowl- 
edges he  sent  runners  to  the  Arkansas,  to  Red  river,  and  to  Texas, 
on  a  secret  mission. 

The  Indians  in  the  spring  of  1831,  under  the  guidance  of  Black 
Hawk,  committed  depredations  on  the  frontier  settlements.  This 
leader  was  a  cunning,  shrewd  Indian,  and  trained  his  party  to  com- 
mit various  depredations  on  the  property  of  the  frontier  inhabi- 
tants, but  not  to  attack  or  kill  any  person.  His  policy  was  to 
provoke  the  Americans  to  make  war  on  him,  that  he  might  seem 
to  be  fighting  in  defence  of  Indian  rights  and  the  graves  of  their 
fathers.  Black  Hawk  had  about  five  hundred  Indians  in  training, 
with  horses,  well-provided  with  arms,  and  came  into  the  State  of 
Illinois  with  hostile  designs.  Consequently  the  Governor,  on  the 
*28th  of  May,  1831,  issued  a  call  for  volunteers.  The  militia  to 
the  number  of  twelve  hundred  or  more  turned  out,  and  under  the 
command  of  General  Joseph  Duncan,  proceeded  on  horseback  to 
Rock  river,  while  a  detachment  of  regular  troops  went  up  the 
Mississippi  river  in  June.  Black  Hav/k  and  his  men,  alarmed  by 
this  prompt  and  formidable  array  against  them,  recrossed  the 
Mississippi,  sent  a  white  flag,  and  made  a  treaty  with  the  United 
States,  in  which  the  latter  agreed  to  furnish  the  Indians  a  large 
amount  of  corn  and  other  necessaries,  on  condition  of  their  strict 
comphance  with  the  treaty  stipulations. 

In  open  violation  of  these  treaties,  Black  Hawk  with  his  party, 
in  the  spring  of  1832,  again  crossed  the  Mississippi,  though  warned 
by  the  commandant  of*  the  United  States  fort  at  Rock  Island  not 
to  do  so.  Troops,  both  regular  and  militia,  were  at  once  mustered 
and  sent  in  pursuit.  Among  these  was  a  party  of  volunteers  under 
the  command  of  Major  Stillman,  who,  on  the  14th  of  May,  was 
out  on  a  tour  of  observation,  and  close  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
savages.  On  that  evening,  having  discovered  a  party  of  the  Indians, 
the  whites  galloped  forward  to  attack  the  savage  band,  but  were 


248  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

met  Avilh  so  mucli  energy  and  determination  as  to  retreat  in, the 
utmost  consternation.  The  whites  were  one  hundred  and  seventy, 
five  in  number,  the  Indians  were  estimated  at  five  or  six  hundred. 
Eleven  whites  were  killed  and  shockingly  mangled,  and  many 
wounded.  This  skirmish  occurred  at  Stillma'n's  run  in  Ogle  county, 
some  twenty-five  miles  above  Dixon. 

On  the  21st  of  May  a  party  of  Indian  warriors,  about  seventy  in 
number,  attacked  the  Indian  Creek  settlement  in  La  Salle  county, 
killed  fifteen  persons,  -and  took  two  young  women  prisoners.      The 
following  day  a  scouting  party  was  attacked  and  four  of  them  slain. 
Other  massacres  soon  followed.     Yery  soon  three  thousand  of  the 
Illinois  militia  were  ordered  out,  who  rendezvoused  by  the  20th  of 
June  near  Peoria.     They  marched  forward  to  the  Eock  river,  and 
were  there  joined  by  the  United  States  troops,  the  whole  being 
under  the  command  of  General  Atkinson.     On  the  24th  of  June, 
two  hundred  Indian  warriors  led  by  Black  Hawk  himself,  were  re- 
pulsed by  Major  Demint,  with  but  one  hundred  and  fifty  militia, 
between  Rock  river  and  Galena.     The  Indians  were  understood  to 
be  collected  near  the  head  of  Rock  river,  and  toward  that  locality 
the  American  army  now  moved.     A  detachment  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Henry,  on  the  21st  of  July,  engaged  the  Indians 
near  the  Blue  Mounds,  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  where,  after  re- 
peated but  fruitless  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  savages  to  break  the 
lines  of  the  Americans,  they  had  to  submit  to  defeat,  and  fled, 
leaving  fifty  or  more  dead  on  the  field.     The  loss  of  the  whites  was 
trifling.     Black  Hawk,  with  his  now  dispirited  followers,  fled  west- 
ward toward  the  Mississippi.     Upon  the  bank  of  that  river,  near 
the  Upper  Iowa,  the  Indians  were  overtaken  and  again  defeated 
on  the  id  of  August,  with  the  loss  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
while  of  the  whites  but  eighteen  fell.     This  battle  entirely  broke 
the  power  of  Black  Hawk.     He  precipitately  fled,  but  was  seized 
by  the  Winnebagoes,  and  on  the  27th  of  August  was  dehvered  to 
the  United  States  officers   at.  Prairie   du  Ohien.     The  following 
month  the   Indian  troubles  were  closed  by  a  treaty  which  reUn- 
quishe,d  on  the  part  of  the  red  men  more  than  thirty  millions  of 
acres,  embracing  what  is  now  the  eastern  portion  of  the  State  of 
Iowa — for-~which  adequate  annuities  were  paid  the  Indians.     Black 
Hawk  and  his  family  were  sent  as  hostages  to  Fortress  Monroe, 
where  he  remained  till  June,  1833,  when  he  was  allowed  to  return 
to  his  native  wilds  where  he  subsequently  died.     He   cannot  be 
ranked  with  the  greatest  Indian  warriors,  since  he  fongb*  only  for 


VIEWS   AND    FEELINGS    OF    MR.    PECK.  249 

revenge ;  he  showed  no  great  intellectual  power,  but  proved  hnn- 
self  a  fearless  man,  and  for  many  months  spread  consternation 
through  the  scattered  settlements  of  Illinois. 

Yery  frequently  were  Mr.  Peck's  appointments,  even  on 
the  Sabbath,  broken  up  by  the  military /lo'or  w^hich  pervaded 
the  minds  of  the  community.  Some  of  his  Christian  brethren 
also,  according  to  the  accounts  preserved  in  his  journal,  became 
brutalized  by  the  war  spirit  which  this  ferocious  struggle  too 
naturally  promoted.  Little  as  Mr.  Peck  sympathized  with 
the  peace  party  or  the  non-resistants  at  any  period  of  his  life, 
he  yet  bore  his  decided  testimony,  in  all  proper  ways,  against 
the  unchristian  spirit  too  frequently  evinced  even  among  those 
of  the  professed  household  faith,  who  with  unmixed  hate  de- 
clared their  settled  purpose  to  shoot  down  the  poor  miserable 
red-skins  wherever  they  might  find  them,  as  unscrupulously 
as  they  would  shoot  the'  wolves  which  prowled  around  their 
dwellings.  Our  brother's  spirit  on  these  occasions  was  kindred 
to  that  of  Robinson,  pastor  of  the  Puritan  church  which  first 
came  to  Plymouth  Rock,  who  on  hearing  from  the  pilgrims  that 
they  had  fought  w^ith  and  killed  several  Indians,  piously  re- 
sponded, "  Would  to  God  that  you  had  converted  some  before 
you  killed  any  !"  Not  unlikely  the  fact  that  Mr.  Peck  had 
originally  been  sent  to  the  West  with  special  reference  to  the 
work  of  missions  among  the  Indians,  and  that  subsequently 
he  had  been  directed,  on  the  breaking  up  of  the  Mission  of 
the  Triennial  Convention  at  St.  Louis,  to  join  with  McCoy 
in  his  labors  among  the  aborigines,  though  he  had  never 
been  able  to  do  this,  may  have  wrought  a  feeling  of  greater 
tenderness  in  his  heart  toward  these  rude  sons  of  nature. 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  this  episode  and  find  our 
brother's  heart  greatly  engaged  in  the  w^ork  of  the  Lord,  as 
he  went  his  rounds  preaching  and  baptizing  in  the  several 
churches.  Precious  revivals  began  to  be  more  frequent  in 
various  parts  of  his  circuit.  He  seems  to  have  proclaimed  the 
gospel  with  great  unction,  and  with  manifest  tokens  of  the 
Divine  approval,  throughout  the  months  and  years  now  pass- 
ing under  review.    And  though  there  were  some  drawbacks  of 


250  MEMOm   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

various  kinds — sometimes  by  the  prevalence  of  Campbellism, 
which  he  was  learning  to  dread  from  the  experienced  ill  effects 
of  many  of  its  advocates,  whose  course  he  narrowiy  scrutin- 
ized, and  partly  from  the  over-zealous  and  unscriptural 
course  of  some  of  his  own  associates,  as  well  as  from  the 
anti-mission,  anti-evangelizing  spirit  of  the  party  still  doing 
so  much  around  him  to  keep  out  the  light  of  Scripture  diffu- 
sion, Sunday-school  influences,  and  preaching  the  gospel  to 
sinners — still  there  was  joy  in  his  heart  and  joy  in  his 
countenance,  and  joy  giving  renewed  vigor  to  his  often 
wearied  frame,  when  souls  by  scores  w^ere  found  crying  out 
what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved,  and  on  welcoming  the  answer 
which  he  gave  them,  to  press  their  way  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Frequently  on  these  joyous  occasions,  when  he  baptized 
by  the  half  score  at  a  time,  he  preserves  in  his  diary  the  names 
of  those  w^ho  there  put  on  Christ  by  his  hand.  And  it  is 
instructive  to  mark  the  number  of  notices,  appended  at  a 
much  later  period,  of  the  course  w^hich  these  subsequently 
run.  Some  fell  awaj^  and  baffled  his  hopes ;  others  were 
misled,  as  he  thought,  to  join  with  other  denominations; 
while  of  the  far  larger  part,  the  testimonies  are,  ''they  have 
worn  well,  they  became  pillars  in  the  church;"  or,  ''they 
early  died,  giving  good  evidence  that  their  end  was  peace." 

In  such  work,  as  well  as  in  his  widely  extended  correspon- 
dence, and  in  the  publications  which  he  chiefly  edited,  and 
for  which,  including  his  Weekly  Pioneer,  a  religious  paper  of 
catholic  character,  and  a  monthly  journal  more  decidedly 
Baptist,  and  another  monthly  half-sheet  devoted  to  the 
advocacy  of  Sunday-schools,  he  wrote  a  great  deal — his 
useful  days  and  nights  were  more  busy,  and  on  the  whole 
more  happily  spent. 

In  the  meantime  it  had  become  evident  that  the  Rock 
Spring  Seminary,  for  which  he  had  made  and  called  forth  so 
generous  offerings,  was  no^  in  the  right  situation  to  secure 
the  extensive  patronage,  an((  to  concentrate  on  it  the  uni- 
versal favor  which  he  and  its  other  founders  and  friends 
desired.     True  it  had  done  much  good — had  more  than  re- 


SEMINARY   REMOVED   TO   ALTON.  251 

deemed  what  he  had  promised  for  it :  but  it  had  been  begun 
and  conducted,  as  well  as  was  located,  on  too  law  and  inade- 
quate a  scale,  and  could  not  there — so  it  was  thought — do 
the  important  work  which  they  desired  to  effect.  While  Dr. 
Going  was  with  him  they  had  conferred  much  on  this  mailer, 
and  had  together  reconnoitered  the  very  spot  in  Upper  Alton 
subsequently  purchased  as  the  site  for  a  new  and  more  im- 
posing institution.  During  the  following  year  that  eligible 
site  was  purchased,  designed  for  both  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
and  therefore  placed  opposite  to  the  junction  of  the  Missouri 
and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  measures  set  on  foot  for  erecting 
durable  edifices,  and  the  transfer  of  the  school  to  that  locality. 
In  an  extensive  preaching  and  exploring  tour  through  the 
counties  of  Fulton,  McDonough,  Hancock,  and  Warren,  111., 
which  filled  up  the  month  of  June,  1832,  he  had  various  ex- 
periences— some  of  them  by  no  means  cheering — occasioned  in 
part  by  the  war  alarms,  and  the  Sunday  musters ;  in  which 
he  complains  that  even  professors  of  religion,  class-leaders 
and  preachers  took  a  prominent  part,  very  needlessly  desecrat- 
ing the  day  of  holy  rest,  as  he  thought ;  and  partly,  too,  from 
the  evil  influence  of  anti-mission  habits  and  prejudices.  Here 
is  a  specimen  of  some  of  those  latter  influences,  which  his 
journal  records : 

Saturday,  9^/i  June.  Rode  twelve  miles  to  Crooked  Creek  chm-ch. 
This  is  a  small  body,  most  of  the  old  members  inveterately  opposed 
to  missions,  and  of  the  "  do-nothing"  class.  Brother  Logan  preached, 
and  they  attended  to  church  business.  Two  candidates  for  baptism 
related  their  experience.  A  case  of  discipline  came  up,  and  a  man 
was  excluded.  The  business  was  managed  in  a  bad  way,  much  con- 
fusion and   contradiction.     The  family  where   we  stayed,  by  the 

name  of  N 1,  live  very  miserably,  while  they  have  ample  means 

of  living  better.  They  have  large  stock  of  hogs  and  cattle  on  the 
range,  and  grain,  yet  for  bread  they  eat  mouldy  and  almost  rotten 
corn,  ground  in  a  hand-mifl.  Most  of  the  people  in  this  settlement 
seem  miserable  and  stupidly  ignorant. 

Lord's-day,  lO/'/i.  After  the  people  began  to  assemble,  I  addressed 
those  in  the  cabin  on  Sunday-school  instruction.  Some  of  the  men, 
members  of  the  church,  were  out  of  doors,  and  kept  on  talking, 


252  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

scolding  and  making-  a  mock  of  what  I  was  saying,  threatening  and 
bkistcring.  One  professor  of  religion  was  heard  to  say  that  I 
ought  to  be  shot  while  at  prayer.  A  bitter,  malignant,  hostile  spirit 
is  manifested  by  this  class  of  persons.  This  is  the  temper  com- 
municated 'by  a  class  of  preachers  here.  About  one  hundred 
people,  old  and  young,  assembled,  to  whom  I  preached  from  Ezekiel 
xxxiii.  11.  Some  of  the  people  kept  on  talking  and  laughing,  en- 
couraged by  professors.  O  Lord,  have  mercy  on  them.  Brother 
Logan  exhorted  :  then  we  went  to  the  water  and  baptized  four  young 
persons  Poor  things  !  No  one  to  instruct  them.  There  is  great 
need  of  a  Sunday-school  in  this  place,  but  I  could  find  no  one  capa- 
ble of  giving  instruction  who  would  take  hold  of  the  business. 
Some  of  the  converts  cannot  read,  and  yet  have  none  to  teach 
them. 

In  other  cases  it  was  his  privilege  to  see  and  to  aid  in  pro- 
moting a  better  state  of  things. 

Lokd's-day,  July  Sth.  Brother  Bailey  and  M.  Lemer.  preached 
in  the  daytime  and  I  exhorted.  At  night  we  assembled  again  in 
the  meeting-house,  when  I  addressed  them.  At  first  many  young 
m.en  behajed  very  rudely,  conversing  in  groups  out  of  doors ;  but 
before  the  meeting  closed,  w^e  had  a  very  solemn  time;  many  were 
deeply  impressed.  Fifteen  or  twenty  came  up  for  prayers  under 
much  distress.  Professors  began  to  be  in  earnest,  and  to  agonize 
for  sinners.  There  were  many  appearances  of  a  revival.  One 
additional  candidate  was  received  for  baptism.  I  am  in  hopes  the 
good  work  of  the  Lord  has  truly  begun  in  this  congregation. 

Monday,  9^/i.  Returned  home  and  spent  the  week  in  answering 
letters,  writing  for  the  Pioneer,  and  other  matters  of  business,  all 
of  w^hich  press  upon  me  when  at  home. 

Such  were  the  alternations  and  engrossments  of  weeks  and 
months  as  now  they  bore  him  along  their  varied  current.  He 
seems  at  times  at  least  to  have  been  painfully  impressed  with 
the  multiplicity  of  his  engagements,  and  with  the  want  of 
more  spirituality  of  mind  ;  but  for  the  most  part  with  cheer- 
ful equanimity,  he  was  striving  to  do  that  first  which  was  of 
greatest  importance  ;  or  perhaps  more  accurately,  to  do  that 
first  which  would  involve  most  disaster  if  delayed.  And  as 
there  was  always  on  hand  more  than  he  could  accomplish, 
there  was  no  time  for  ennui  or  listlessness. 


ANNIVERSARIES  AT   VANDALIA.  253 

December,  1833,  he  records  his  visit  to  Yandalia,  then  the 
seat  of  government  for  Illinois,  to  attend  several  of  those 
State  organizations  which  he  had  been  largely  instrumental 
in  originating ;  and  as  his  journal  gives  a  candid  statement 
of  their  actual  condition  at  this  time,  it  may  be  interesting  to 
our  readers  to  look  over  a  few  pages  of  it,  condensed  as  much 
as  possible,  but  left  to  express  in  his  own  words  his  honest 
convictions  : 

Monday,  December'  2d.  I  started  for  Yandalia,  and  tarried  with 
Mr.  Johnson  at  Hickory  Grove. 

3d.  Eeached  Vandalia,  and  at  night  attended  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Illinois  State  Bible  Society.  Not  a  single  thing  has  been 
done  the  present  year.  It  now  appears  that  there  was  really  no 
use  in  forming  a  State  society  while  every  comity,  except  on  the 
frontiers,  had  its  OAvn  auxiliary.  It  was  found  on  inquiry  that  this 
State  society  had  on  hand  a  large  quantity  of  Bibles,  for  which 
they  owe  in  good  faith  about  nine  himdred  dollars,  besides  a  large 
stock  for  which  the  society  is  to  pay  if  able.  On  a  subsequent  day 
in  the  Board  of  Directors  I  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions  and 
marked  out  a  plan  to  relieve  ourselves  of  this  burden  and  dispose  of 
these  debts,  which  were  adopted.  The  want  of  energy,  system,  and 
correctness  in  the  Secretary  and  acting  portion  of  the  Board,  is  a 
serious  impediment  to  operations  of  any  kind. 

Uh.  Most  of  the  day  was  employed  in  finishing  my  report  of  the 
Illinois  Sunday-school  Union.  On  the  evening  the  anniversary  was 
held  in  the  State-house.  A.  large  assetably  was  present,  and  much 
interest  excited.  Several  of  the  addresses  were  excellent.  The 
Sunday-school  cause  has  obtained  a  strong  hold  upon  the  affections 
and  confidence  of  the  people.  With  prudent  and  energetic  manage- 
ment it  must  succeed. 

bth.  Yery  busy  through  the  day  in  settling  and  arranjring  busi- 
ness with  the  Sunday-school  agents  present,  and  attending  meet- 
ings of  the  Board,  committees,  etc. 

In  the  evening  the  anniversary  of  the  Illinois  State  Temperance 
Societ^'^  was  held.  Several  addresses  were  delivered,  and  an  im- 
pulst;  given  to  the  cause.  The  policy  of  distributing  temperance 
publications  largely  was  adopted. 

^th.  Still  very  closel}^  engaged  in  the  objects  of  the  various  be 
nevolent  institutions.     The  annual  meeting  of  the  Illinois  Institute 
of  Education  was  held  to-day,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  ex 
22 


254  MEMOIR   OF   JOPIN   M.  PECK. 

amine  the  various  documents  in  my  possession,  digest  and  prepare 
a  summary  publication,  and  then  try  to  arouse  the  people  to  the 
subject,  get  up  public  meetings,  have  addresses  made,  and  thus 
produce  general  action  throughout  the  State.  [He  was  almost  of 
course  the  chairman  of  this  committee.]  In  the  evening  the 
Colonization  Society  had  a  meeting  and  adjourned. 

Ith,  Saturday.  Busily  engaged  through  the  day  in  writing.  The 
Colonization  Society  again  met,  chose  officers,  and  entered  upon 
business.  A  series  of  resolutions  opposing  anti-slavery  societies 
and  measures,  and  urging  the  colonization  scheme  as  the  only  safe 
and  eifectual  expedient  to  remove  slavery,  were  introduced,  and 
the  discussion  on  them  postponed  till  Monday. 

Wi,  Lord's-day.  In  the  morning  attended  the  Sunday-school  and 
addressed  it  on  the  subject  of  temperance.  Placed  in  the  hbrary  a 
copy  of  the  Temperance  Kecorder.  Then  I  preached  to  a  large 
and  attentive  congregation  from  1  Thess.  i.  5. 

In  the  evening  I  gave  a  lecture  on  the  Burman  Mission,  M^hich 
was  heard  with  great  interest,  and  the  next  day  six  dollars  and  a 
half  were  handed  me  by  Presbyterians  for  that  mission. 

Wi,  Monday.  I  was  induced  to  stay  on  account  of  the  adjourned 
colonization  meeting  to  be  held  to-night.  The  day  was  occupied 
in  writing  many  letters.  Evening,  the  Colonization  Society  met 
and  discussed  the  resolutions,  i\  which  I  took  part,  proposing 
several  amendments,  which  were  tidopted.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  digest  a  document  of  facts  to  be  laid  before  the  public. 
Of  this  committee  I  am  one.  Thus  I  have  an  amount  of  business 
of  various  descriptions  thrown  upon  my  shoulders,  which  will,  with 
my  Sundav-school  concerns,  occupy  me  very  closely  the  whole 
winter. 

10th  and  11th.  Journeyed  home  and  found  all  well. 

12th.  Went  to  St.  Louis,  chiefly  on  Sunday-school  business,  and 
returning  reached  home  at  a  late  hour  of  an  exceedingly  dark 
night. 

lAth,  Saturday.  Very  busy  in  preparing  the  Sunday-school  re- 
port for  the  press. 

loth,  Lord's-day.  Yery  sick  with  my  usual  infirmity,  sick-head- 
ache, and  unable  to  attend  meeting  which  had  been  appointed 
for  me, 

22d.  Preached  the  funeral  discourse  for  the  late  Governor  Edwards 
in  the  court-house,  Edwardsville.  Not  only  was  the  house  crowded, 
but  a  multitude  were  out  of  doors,  the  weather  being  pleasant. 
I  took  a  passage  from  Ezekiel  xix.  12  for  a  text :  "  Her  strong  rods 


DEATH  OF  JOHN  CLARKE.  256 

were  broken  and  withered,"  in  which  I  portrayed  the  qualities  of 
an  eminent  statesman.  A  call  was  made  next  day  for  the  publica- 
tion of  the  discourse  with  a  short  memoir  of  his  life  and  character, 
which  will  be  complied  with. 

23d  and  24th.  Spent  in  Belleville,  conversing  widely  as  possible 
on  common-school  education,  and  trying  to  enlist  leading  persons 
in  this  subject. 

Slh,  Saturday.  For  three  days  I  have  been  closely  occupied  in 
arranging  my  correspondence  and  other  papers,  and  in  preparing 
articles  for  the  Pioneer  on  education,  temperance,  and  colonization. 
I  have  divers  important  letters  to  answer  and  much  other  business 
which  will  require  my  utmost  efforts  to  perform. 

Lord's-day,  29th.  Preached  at  Lebanon  from  the  eighth  chapter 
of  Eomans.  Church  business  followed,  and  several  cases  of  diffi- 
culty occurred.  This  church  has  lost  considerable  in  order  and 
piety  within  a  few  months.  In  the  afternoon  it  rained  severely, 
and  I  rode  home  in  the  storm. 


The  above  items  furnish  a  pretty  fair  sample  of  the  manner 
in  which  his  time  was  filled  up  with  urgent  duties  one  day, 
and  one  week,  and  ono  month  after  another,  for  this,  and 
preceding,  and  following  years. 

The  next  February  mention  is  made  of  the  funeral  of  that 
veteran,  Father  John  Clarke,  of  whom  he  says  that  "  he 
spent  part  of  a  day  at  James  Lemen's  looking  over  the  manu- 
scripts left  by  Father  Clark.  The  old  man  commenced  writing 
his  life  at  my  suggestion,  made  considerable  progress,  but  was 
never  able  to  finish  it.  It  was  finally  agreed  that  myself  and 
James  Lemen  should  write  and  publish  his  life  in  a  bound 
volume."  This  object  was  accomplished  by  our  brother,  but 
not  till  nearly  twenty  years  afterward.  He  purposed  doing 
the  same  for  several  friends,  as  Meacham,  Bradley,  and 
others  ;  and  so  frequently,  and  for  so  long  a  period  were  these 
things  before  him,  and  mentioned  in  his  correspondence,  that 
the  idea  was  naturally  entertained  that  he  had  made  con- 
siderable progress  in  the  preparation  of  materials  for  these 
memoirs.  Such,  however,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  the 
case.  They  existed  only  in  his  teeming  brain.  Not  a  page 
of  either  was  ever  written. 


256  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  I'ECK. 

To  the  preparation  of  a  gazetteer  of  Illinois,  however,  with 
anew  and  much  fuller  and  more  accurate  map  than  had  before 
existed,  he  devoted  no  small  share  of  the  early  portions  of  the 
3"ear  1834.  By  the  end  of  March  he  mentions  having  sold 
the  first  edition  of  this  book  to  a  Mr.  Gandy  of  Jacksonville. 

Under  date  of  July  20th,  of  this  year,  occurs  the  following 
entry  in  his  journal,  showing  nt  how  early  a  period  his  heart 
w^as  greatly  stirred  in  contemplating  a  work  to  which  ten 
3^ears  later  he  gave  some  of  the  most  important  and  labori- 
ous of  his  life-efforts : 

Yesterday  I  received  a  communication  from  I.  M.  Allen,  general 
agent  of  the  Baptist  Tract  Society,  urging  me  to  engage  as  a  super- 
intending agent  for  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This  is  the  third 
communication  made  to  me  with  that  object  in  view.  It  proposes 
an  extensive  course  of  operation  for  the  specific  purpose  of  raising 
up  the  condition  of  the  Western  Baptists,  by  addresses,  forming 
plans  and  organizations  for  usefulness,  circulating  tracts  and  other 
valuable  religious  books,  and  endeavoring  to  bring  the  great  body 
of  the  Baptists  to  act  in  harmony  and  efficiently.  This  would  be, 
indeed,  a  Herculean  enterprise,  involving  vast  responsibility,  re- 
quiring diversified  abilities  far  beyond  what  I  can  ever  hope  to 
possess.  Yet  it  is  a  work  that  must  he  done.  Somebody  must  take 
hold  of  it.  It  must  be  commenced  speedily,  and  followed  perse- 
veringly.  I  have  little  reason  to  think  that  my  circumstances  and 
deficiencies  would  justify  such  an  effort  on  my  part,  but  I  feel 
bound  to  give  the  proposition  a  prayerful  and  respectful  consider- 
ation. 

In  August  he  took  a  somewhat  extensive  tour  into  Mis- 
souri, traveled  and  preached  in  company  with  his  beloved 
Brother  Yardeman  whose  house  he  visited  and  became  for 
a  little  season  his  w^elcome  guest.  Together  they  attended  a 
kind  of  convention  of  Baptists  to  take  into  consideration  the 
destitution  in  that  State,  and  contrive  the  best  means  for 
supplying  it.  Throughout  the  wide  region  where  he  now 
traveled  in  this  State,  and  in  considerable  part  over  ground 
familiar  to  him  in  former  preaching  tours,  he  found  the  state 
of  religion  low  indeed  just  at  present,  but  giving  unmis- 


TAILING    HEALTH    OF    MR.  PECK.      .  25 T 

takable  evidences  of  progress.  Anti-isru  in  its  various  forms 
was  dying  out ;  more  regard  was  felt  for  Sabbath-schools, 
missions,  and  even  for  the  support  of  preaching  in  the  several 
churches.  Though  in  all  these  respects  the  progress  had  been 
slow,  and  the  present  state  was  far  enough  from  satisfactory, 
yet,  compared  with  what  he  had  seen  eight  or  ten  years  pre- 
vious, it  was  encouraging. 

Early  in  November  following  we  find  him,  with  several  of 
his  brethren  in  the  ministry  from  his  immediate  neighborhood, 
attending  a  convention  of  Western  Baptists  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Among  other  objects  of  importance  there  considered  the 
Western  Baptist  Education  Society  was  formed,  and  incip- 
ient steps,  or'  at  least  counsels,  taken  for  the  theological 
institution  afterwards  established  at  Covington  ;  in  all  which, 
though  his  health  was  very  poor,  he  took  the  deepest  interest.  ■ 
Here  he  met  with  his  endeared  Brethren  Going,  Hill,  Allen, 
;and  many  others,  with  whom  he  took  counsel  on  matters  of 
paramount  interest  to  himself  and  to  the  welfare  of  the 
Baptist  cause. 

Under  date  of  November  18th,  1834,  the  following  minute 
occurs  in  his  journal : 

Held  consultation  with  several  brethren  from  the  East  as  to  my 
future  destiny  and  course.  All  gave  as  their  decided  opinion  that 
1  should  go  to  the  Atlantic  States  in  the  spring,  spend  the  summer, 
and  collect  funds  for  Alton  Seminary  and  for  the  Home  Mission. 
Such  a  destination  would  require  an  entirely  new  arrangement  of 
business  and  prospects.  I  desire  to  be  submissive  to  the  order 
of  Divine  Providence  and  enter  the  path  of  duty ;  yet  such  a 
mission  will  be  on  my  part  a  matter  of  much  self-denial,  and  a 
most  arduous  and  responsible  undertaking. 

The  following  month  he  was  again  found,  as  the  preceding 
year,  attending  t]ie  State  anniversaries  at  Yandalia.  Tne 
Sunday-school  cause  especially  seems  to  have  progressed 
linely,  and  generally  the  educational  interests  were  advancing. 
Subsequently  In  St.  Louis  and  at  Alton,  in  company  with  his 
early  assistant.  Rev.  James  E.  Welch,  they  made  some  humili- 
ating discoveries  in  regard  to  the  unworthy  conduct  of  a  man 


258  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

employed  at  a  generous  salary  by  the  American  Sunday- 
school  Union  to  keep  their  depository.  Farming  out  this 
service  for  one-half  the  sum  paid  to  him  for  its  performance, 
the  other  half  enabled  him  to  prosecute  a  sectarian  purpose 
of  his  own,  in  direct  contravention  of  the  principles  of  the 
Union,  whose  commission  he  thus  dishonored.  Our  brother's 
reflections  on  this  mean  trickery  indicate  how  sensitive  his 
mind  was  to  every  perversion  of  the  noble  catholicity  of 
union  societies  whose  very  existence  depends  on  the  irre- 
proachable fidelity  of  those  intrusted  with  their  agency. 

Yery  poor  health  nearly  prostrated  him  during  the  greater 
part  of  this  winter.  He  particularly  notices  his  utter  inability 
to  endure  exposure  to  the  cold  as  in  former  years  ;  and  during 
the  severer  portions  of  the  season  he  represents  himself  as 
only  able  to  hover  over  a  large  fire,  and  strive  to  keep  his  torpid 
liver  from  an  entire  cessation  of  action  by  vigorous  restora- 
tives. The  affairs  of  the  seminar}^  (a  charter  of  it  as  a  college 
was  about  .this  time  obtained)  caused  him  very  frequent  visits 
to  its  locality  at  Upper  Alton.  To  secure  in  an  economical 
and  efficient  manner  the  requisite  buildings,  to  harmonize 
teachers  young  and  old  from  New  England  and  from  Old 
England,  as  well  as  some  raised  up  on  the  ground,  to  watch 
over  and  procure  in  tolerable  season  the  scanty  finances  de- 
rived chiefly  from  small  subscriptions,  and  to  give  as  much 
efficiency  and  reputation  as  possible  to  the  young  and  unen- 
dowed institution,  required  of  him,  with  all  his  other  cares 
and  toils,  much  more  of  effort  than  he  was  really  able  to  put 
forth.  At  this  time,  too,  he  seems  to  have  contemplated  a 
removal  of  his  family,  his  paper  and  printing-press  to  Alton 
as  soon  as  he  could  advantageously  dispose  of  his  farm  at 
Rock  Spring.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  purchase  eligible 
lots  on  which  to  erect  a  comfortable  dwelling  for  his  family 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  college  campus  ;  but  for  some  cause  the 
transfer  of  residence  was  never  made. 

In  the  early  meetings  of  the  trustees  of  the  incorporated 
college,  the  question  primarily  claimed  their  attention,  How 
should   funds  be  secured  for  the  erection  of  ampler  edifices, 


ENDOWMENT   OF   ALTON   SEMINARY.  259 

and  for  the  permanent  endowment  of  at  least  some  of  the 
professorships  ?  After  much  and  earnest  discussion  of  this 
exigent  demand,  in  every  form  in  which  any  practicable  hope 
of  success  seemed  to  present  itself,  the  conclusion  was  finally 
reached  that  a  sum  not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
must  be  raised  for  these  important  purposes.  Two  agents 
were  appointed  to  solicit  aid :  one  in  the  West,  who  might 
raise— so  they  hoped — one-fifth  of  this  sum,  while  our  care- 
worn and  almost  skeleton-looking  brother  was  commissioned 
to  go  to  the  East,  with  the  forlorn  hope  of  getting  the  other 
four-fifths  of  this  sum  from  that  quarter. 

Soon  as  this  plan  was  definitely  decided  on,  and  he  had 
•accepted  the  commission  for  this  purpose,  he  immediately 
arranged  all  his  afi*airs  with  reference  to  it.  He  resigned  the 
office  of  Sunday-school  superintendent  and  active  manager  in 
that  and  other  Boards,  finished  up  so  far  as  practicable  his 
correspondence  and  some  special  communications  for  his  paper 
which  the  exigencies  of  the  times  called  for,  and  in  all  respects 
endeavored  to  put  his  affairs  in  the  best  order  practicable  to 
be  left,  whether  he  should  live  to  return  or  not. 

Among  these  last  services  may  be  reckoned  a  special  com- 
munication which  he  mentions  having  prepared  with  extra 
carefulness  to  expose  the  pretensions  of  Mormonism,  which 
just  now  was  making  some  inroads  among  the  ignorant  and 
vacillating  in  several  parts  of  the  State  and  in  some  neighbor- 
hoods in  his  own  vicinity.  His  expose  of  that  bold  delusion 
was  in  several  cases  eminently  successful.  So  was  probably 
a  similar  article,  which  just  about  this  time  he  sent  forth, 
exposing  the  efforts  of  foreign  priests  to  promote  the  Romish 
religion 


2 GO  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

Second  Visit  to  tlie  Eastern  States — Triennial  Convention  at  Rich- 
mond, Va. — New  York  Anniversaries — General  Operations  in 
Behalf  of  the  College  at  Alton — Success  and  Return  to  Illinois. 

Saturday,  April  11th,  1835,  Mr.  Peck  left  home,  and  after  spending 
the  Sabbath  in  St.  Louis,  where  he  gave  the  white  Baptist  church  a 
brief  review  of  the  state  of  things  when  he  first  came  there  seven- 
teen years  and  a  half  before ;  and  then  preached  to  the  African 
Baptist  church  a  kind  of  farewell  discourse,  and  they  by  their  own 
arrangement  made  him  a  free-will  offering  of  thirty  dollars  to  aid 
him  on  his  way,  though  most  of  them  he  says  were  slaves.  The 
next  morning,  in  company  with  an  unusual  number  of  ministers  and 
other  professors  of  religion  who  had  insisted  on  the  boat's  not 
leaving  port  on  Saturday  evening,  he  went  on  board  the  steamer 
Potosi,  and  proceeded  down  the  river  at  the  rate  of  twelve  miles 
an  hour.  The  weather  was  delightful,  but  the  season  late,  and  fires 
were  still  needed  in  the  cabins.  The  red  buds  were  just  in  blossom, 
the  elm  and  cottonwood  and  a  few  other  trees  were  beginning  to 
show  leaves.  Passed  Fort  Massac,  now  only  distinguished  as  a 
farm.  The  boat  shook  so  much  that  he  could  not  finish  his  writing 
as  he  had  intended,  and  he  busied  himself  in  reading  the  life  of 
Colonel  David  Crockett,  a  genuine  portraiture  of  backwood's  talent 
and  address.  Took  on  board  the  celebrated  Dr.  Caldwell,  Professor 
in  Transylvania  University,  Lexington,  Ky.,  who  about  this  period 
was  making  himself  conspicuous  as  the  advocate  of  the  views  of 
Gall  and  Spurzheim  in  phrenology,  who  had  been  on  a  lecturing 
tour  to  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  who  afforded  much  interest  and  amuse- 
ment. His  semi-infidel  notions,  not  only  in  regard  to  phrenology, 
but  to  a  diversity  of  original  races  of  mankind,  called  forth  dis- 
cussion between  him  and  Dr.  Ed.  Beecher,  President  Baldwin,  and 
Mr.  Peck,  which  pleasantly  filled  up  their  time  till  the  boat  reached 
Louisville.  Here  they  were  transferred  to  another  steamer.  Stopped 
for  a  day  or  two  at  Cincinnati,  where  an  opportunity  wa<5  ifforded 
Mr.  Peck  of  renewing  his  intercourse  with  that  distinguished  pro- 
moter of  the  Western  Education  Society,  E.  RobJas,  and  others, 


TRIENNIAL   CONVENTION   AT   RICHMOND.  2Gl 

Uicii  fully  ciigTOssed  with  the  plans  which  ere  long  resulted  in  the 
.Oovington-purchase  of  real  estate  for  the  founding  of  the  Theologi- 
cal School  of  the  Northwest.  Here  also  he  again  heard  Alexander 
Campbell,  and  says:  "I  have  exposed  the  sophistry  of  his  argu- 
ments in  the  Pioneer."  Ascending  the  Ohio  river,  which  at  this 
season  of  the  year  he  says  is  uncommonly  pleasant,  the  banks 
being  both  picturesque  and  romantic,  he  reached  Guyandotte,  Va.., 
and  thence  took  stage  across  that  State  to  Kichmond.  Spent  a 
Sabbath  in  Charlottesville,  and  as  this  whole  route  was  new  to 
him — up  the  Guyandotte,  across  the  dividing  ridge  to  the  Kana- 
wha, then  up  that  river  past  the  extensive  saline  works  ^'here  two 
miUion  bushels  of  salt  were  then  annually  manufactured,  across 
the  Alleghany  ridge  and  the  Blue  Eidge,  near  the  AVhite  Sulphur 
springs,  the  hot  springs,  and  the  warm  springs,  and  through  Louis- 
Durg  and  Staunton  to  Monticello — the  scenes  appear  tohaveaw^ak- 
ened  his  highest  interest.  Passing  from  Charlottesville  to  Kichmond 
he  found  many  streams  without  bridges,  and  in  one  instance  the 
water  came  into  the  stage.  Such,  says  he,  is  Old  Virginia  even 
now  ! 

Arriving  at  the  capital,  Tuesday,  25th  April,  he  found  welcome 
quarters  with  Rev.  I.  T.  Hinton,  the  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
church,  with  whom  then  and  long  afterward  his  intercourse  was 
most  endearing  and  mutually  satisfactory.  That  evening  he  at- 
tended the  anniversary  of  the  Virginia  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary 
Society.  Among  the  interesting  addresses  he  remarks  on  one  from 
Rev.  Mr.  Sutton,  English  Baptist  missionary  to  Orissa,  India,  the 
seat  of  Juggernaut's  temple,  who  described  the  car-festival  of  that 
idol,  the  burning  of  widows,  infanticide,  and  other  abominations 
which  he  had  witnessed. 

The  next  day  the  delegates  of  the  general  triennial  convention 
assembled  and  were  organized.  Twenty-one  States  were  repre- 
sented by  a  much  larger  body  of  delegates,  and  from  a  wider 
extent  of  country  than  ever  before.  Rev.  Dr.  Cox  and  Hoby,  from 
the  Baptist  Union  of  England,  were  most  cordially  received.  They 
addressed  the  meeting  in  a  most  feeling  manner.  It  was  a  thrilling 
scene.  In  the  midst  of  it,  Mr.  Peck,  still  suffering  from  his  former 
complaint,  had  a  fresh  attack  of  it,  which  obliged  him  to  retire. 
In  the  afternoon  the  anniversary  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  S. 
H.  Cone,  of  New  York,  and  the  next  morning  the  annual  report 
was  read,  a'\^akcning  more  interest  than  had  ever  been  called  forth 
before  by  any  similar  document.     All  the  remainder  of  the  week 


262  ]M£:\ioin  of  joiin  m.  peck. 

was  given  to  tlie  usual  business  of  the  convention,  which  progressed 
and  was  closed  harmoniously. 

On  Lord's-day  there  was  preaching  by  visiting  ministers  in  tho 
third  Baptist  church  and  in  several  others.  Mr.  Peck  heard  Rev. 
Mr,  Hoby  in  the  morning — an  interesting  sermon.  In  the  after- 
noon Rev.  Mr.  Sutton,  above  mentioned,  preached  and  exhibited 
specimens  of  the  idol  gods  and  other  abominations  of  idolatry  to  a 
crowded  and  deeply-affected  audience,  after  which  a  collection  was 
taken  to  aid  his  mission.  In  the  evening  he  heard  Dr.  Cox  preach 
a  splendid  and  powerful  discourse  from  Col.  i.  28. 

Monday,  the  Home  Mission  Society  commenced  its  anniversary. 
The  report  was  quite  interesting,  showing  an  amount  of  sixty-four 
years  labor  performed  by  the  missionaries  the  past  year.  The 
English  delegation  were  he:  e  again  introduced,  when  each  made  a 
most  impressive  speech,  which  was  suitably  responded  to  by  the 
President  and  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cone,  as  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  on  behalf  of  the  rociety. 

Tuesday,  Mr.  Peck  introduced  a  resolution  urging  the  ground  of 
action  on  home  missions,  and  made  a  speech  an  hour  and  a  quarter 
long,  specially  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  At  a  meeting  held  with 
reference  to  the  Baptist  General  Tract  and  Publication  Society,  the 
position  was  maintained  that  the  Baptists  should  co-operate  with 
the  great  union  societies,  but  at  the  same  time  should  provide 
books  and  tracts  such  as  are  specially  needed  by  the  denomination. 
The  following  evening  he  preached  in  the  second  Baptist  church 
giving  a  sketch  of  affairs  in  the  West,  particularly  some  of  the  good 
and  hopeful  things  in  Illinois. 

Thursday,  in  company  with  Brethren  Hinton  and  Going,  he 
visited  Richmond  College,  a  manual  labor  seminary  with  three 
professors  and  sixty  students,  twenty  of  them  Baptist  beneficiaries, 
all  of  whom  labored  three  hours  a  day.  He  found  it  satisfactory 
and  encouraging. 

Early  next  morning  he  went  on  board  the  steamer  Thomas 
Jefferson  for  Norfolk,  and  had  an  exciting  race  on  the  James  river 
with  another  boat  named  Patrick  Henry,  passing  the  ruins  of  old 
Jamestown,  and  other  interesting  localities.  Saturday  noon  he 
took  the  steam  packet  David  Brown  from  Norfolk  for  New  York. 
Passing  the  Rip  Raps,  Fortress  Monroe  and  the  Cape,  they  met  a 
violent  storm,  and  he  experienced  for  the  first  and  perhaps  the  last 
time,  something  like  a  gale  at  sea.  Monday  morning  he  saw  the 
sun  rise  from  his  ocean  bed,  off  Sandy  Hook,  and  was  soon  landed 
in  New  York,  where  he  found  a  welcome  home  -with  Professor 


NEW   YORK   AND   PHILADELPHIA   ANNIVERSARIES.         263 

Abraham  Mills  of  the  university,  an  old  and  valued  friend.  It 
was  the  week  of  anniversaries,  and  the  next  day  he  attended  that 
of  the  Anti-slavery  Society,  exciting  this  year  more  than  usual 
interest,  becausd  the  English  Baptist  deputation  had  been  invited 
to  address  it.  Though  they  had  given  encouragement  of  doing  so, 
yet  on  fuller  consideration  they  dechned,  thereby  exciting  some 
animadversion.  The  celebrated  George  Thompson,  of  England, 
however,  was  present,  and  Mr.  Peck  says,  "made  a  trerneridous 
speech.  Much  of  his  language  was  intemperate  denunciation." 
The  same  afternoon  he  attended  the  exhibition  of  the  Sabbath- 
school  children  in  the  Park — "  a  grand  and  pleasant  sight."  The 
two  or  three  following  days  and  evenings  were  occupied  with  atten- 
dance on  the  American  Tract,  Bible  and  Colonization  Society 
anniversaries,  which  seem  to  have  exerted  on  his  own  mind  a 
powerful  and  salutary  influence.  In  view  of  which,  he  says  :  "  I 
shall  most  certainly  return  to  the  West  with  more  expansive  feel- 
ings, and  a  higher  relish  for  the  great  object  of  Christian  philan- 
throphy  than  I  ever  felt  before.  These  great  national  festivals  give 
a  wide  and  powerful  impulse  to  the  cause."  From  New  York  he 
repaired  to  Philadelphia,  attending  the  anniversary  of  the  American 
Sunday-school  Union,  which  he  efficiently  addressed,  as  he  had 
several  of  the  societies  in  New  York.  He  spent  two  Sabbaths  in 
this  city,  visiting  some  of  his  old,  choice  friends,  and  preaching  in 
most  of  the  Baptist  pulpits.  He  laid  his  object — securing  help  for 
the  nascent  college  at  Upper  Alton — before  the  several  congrega- 
tions. As  the  result  of  his  appeals,  private  and  public,  he  says  : 
"I  find  that  Philadelphia  Baptists  will  do  a  httle — contribute  small 
donations — but  are  not  yet  in  the  habit  of  doing  things  on  a  liberal 
scale."  Two  or  three  visits  he  made  to  the  good  city  of  Penn,  to 
Burlington,  and  Newark,  N.  J.,  and  in  the  meantime  did  what  he 
could  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  until  the  middle  of  June,  when 
he  went  up  the  Hudson  and  attended  at  Schenectady  the  session 
of  the  Hudson  Kiver  Association,  which  he  had  assisted  to  form  at 
Poughkeepsie  twenty  years  before.  Then  it  was  a  small  body,  of 
only  four  churches.  Now  he  found  it  numbering  forty  churches, 
many  of  them  large  and  efficient. 

Before  this  association,  by  its.  appointment,  Mr.  Peck  preached 
and  pleaded  the  cause  of  his  Western  Institution  with  so  much 
effect  that,  previous  to  the  adjournment,  a  resolution  was  passeo 
recommending  Alton  College  to  the  liberality  of  the  churches. 

Returning  then  to  New  York  and  vicinity,  he  spent  nearly  five 
weeks  more  in  getting  from  churches  and  individuals  the  donations 


264  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

which  they  were  willing  to  make  for  the  endowment  of  a  seminary 
of  learning  in  the  West. 

About  the  20th  of  July  he  went  to  New  England :  in  Providence 
visited  his  generous,  confiding  friend  Hon.  Nicholas  Brown,  and 
attended  the  examination  of  some  of  the  classes  in  Brown  Univer- 
sity. Thence  to  Boston,  to  Dr.  Shurtletf' s,  from  whom,  himself 
and  his  object  experienced  so  much  generosity.  In  and  all  around  • 
the  city  and  the  vicinity,  and  even  to  Portland,  Me.,  he  extended 
his  energetic  visits  and  appeals  for  aid.  With  various  measures 
of  success  and  failure  he  became  familiarized,  and  seems  to  have 
taken  all  in  good  part — or  only  indicating  slight  disappointment  or 
displacency  when  he  failed  of  what  he  thought  reasonable  expecta- 
tions. It  was  one  of  the  felicities  of  this  good  man's  nature  not  to 
be  greatly  elated  or  depressed  by  success  or  the  want  of  it.  It  is 
almost  amusing  to  one  knowing  pretty  thoroughly  and  accurately 
the  state  of  the  churches,  and  the  prevalent  animus  of  their  pastors 
in  a  matter  of  this  kind,  to  follow  his  course  from  city  to  country,  and 
from  one  church  to  another,  in  all  these  toilsome  weeks  which  so 
perseveringly  he  spent  in  the  endeavors  to  secure  the  indispensable 
means  for  the  incipient  endowment  of  the  college.  Nor  was  his 
attention  confined  to  this  matter.  One  da^^  and  night  he  devoted 
to  a  visit  to  Newton  Institution,  where  his  endeavor  was  to  imbue 
the  minds  of  the  young  brethren — the  students — with  the  purpose 
to  give  themselves  to  self-denying  service  requisite  for  success  in 
the  noble  field  to  which  he  belonged. 

He  attended,  too,  the  anniversaries  and  lectures  of  the  literary 
and  scientific  institutions  as  far  as  possible,  and  in  all  proper  w^ays 
both  gave  and  received  information.  In  his  journal  he  remarks, 
*'  I  find  that  those  who  have  visited  in  behalf  of  the  AYest,  and 
spoke  on  the  state  of  things  there,  have  almost  exclusively  con- 
fined themselves  to  the  dark  side  of  our  moral  picture.  They 
have  told  of  our  destitution  and  our  danger,  without  exhibiting 
those  facts  which  tend  to  show  that  great  good  can  be  done  with 
comparatively  small  means.  I  have  endeavored  to  give  both  sides 
■ — to  show  ouy  evils  and  difficulties,  and  to  show  also  the  improve- 
ments going  forward  by  a  judicious  and  timely  use  of  such  means 
as  are  suited  to  the  circumstances  of  the  West.  And  on  the  whole 
I  think  this  course  will  secure  most  aid  ultimately  for  the  West. 
At  the  Worcester  Association,  meeting  that  year  in  Sutton,  he 
spoke  in  .behalf  of  the  Home  Mission  and  the  seminary.  On 
again  visiting  Providence,  he  conferred  at  length  with  Hon. 
Nicholas  Brown  on  the  project  of  his  founding  a  professorship  in 


COMMENCEMENT   AT   BROWN    UNIVERSITY.  265 

the  college  at  Alton.  *'At  first  he  seemed  disinclined,  but  since 
has  proposed  to  consider  the  subject."  In  that  vicinity,  too,  he 
called  on  his  frequent  correspondent  in  those  and  subsequent  days, 
the  Rev.  David  Benedict,  historian  of  the  Baptists,  and  seems  to 
have  had  much  free  conference  with  him  on  our  denominational 
affairs.  In  this  connection  he  expresses  his  regret  to  see  men  who 
have  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day  cast  into  the  back 
ground  towards  evening.  "Such,"  says  he,  "is  human  nature. 
Such  may  probably  be  my  fate.  Well,  if  those  who  enter  the 
field,  for  whom  myself  and  others  have  pioneered  out  the  way, 
thrust  us  back  as  lumber  of  a  past  age,  be  it  so,  provided  they  will 
sustain  the  cause,  and  carry  forward  the  great  work." 

In  this  vicinity,  too,  he  fell  in  Avith  one  of  Barnum's  first  hum- 
bugs, Joice  Hetli,  represented  as  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  years 
old,  and  that  she  had  been  a  Baptist  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
3^ears,  the  nurse  of  Washington,  etc.,  of  whom  he  correctly  re- 
marks :  "  She  was  certainly  not  a  Baptist  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
years  ago,  for  no  Baptist  minister  lived  in  Yirginia  then!"  Show- 
ing how  useful  in  detecting  imposture  is  some  little  knowledge  of 
chronology  and  history. 

He  attended  the  first  week  in  September  the  commencenient 
exercises  at  Brown  University,  and  remarks  discriminately  on  the 
day,  as  pretty  uniformly  regarded  thoughout  the  little  State  of 
Rhode  Island  as  a.  holiday- — banks,  factories,  shops  generally  closed, 
and  all  the  people  thronging  to  Providence.  The  day  preceding 
commencement  he  heard  the  oration  on  Intellectual  Philosophy 
of  President  HopkinSoof  WilHams'  College,  before  the  United 
Brothers  Society,,  and  in  the  evening  the  discourse  before  the 
Society  of  Missionary  Inquiry  by  Rev.  R.  E.  Pattison,  ana  in  the 
afternoon  of  commencement  day,  Professor  Caswell  on  Mathematics 
as  a  branch  of  literal  education,  and  Professor  Knowles,  of  New- 
ton Institution,  a  poem  on  the  Victories  of  Peace.  The  evening 
of  the  same  day  Dr.  Cox  preached  a  grand  sermon  from  John  iii. 
30,  "He  must  increase."  On  the  whole  he  was  delighted  and 
profited  by  the  services. 

He  then  made  a  little  tour  into  his  native  State,  Connecticut. 
Spent  a  Sabbath  in  Hartford,  and  received  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  for  his  object — attended  the  Hartford  Association  at  Canton, 
and  records  with  some  feeling  his  meeting  with  old  friends,  naming 
particularly  Elder  Rufus  Babcock,  then  seventy-seven  years  old, 
Elder  Asahel  Morse,  Deacon  John  Gurney,  and  George  D.  James 
of  the  church  in  Amenia,  and  others  whom  he  had  formerly  known. 
23 


266  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    31.  I'ECK. 

Here,  too,  Drs.  Cox  and  Tloby  were  both  present  and  preached, 
and  he  parted  with  them  and  others  expecting  never  probably  to 
meet  in  time !  Then  he  returned  through  Suffield,  where  he  was 
interested  in  the  Literary  Institution,  and  Springfield,  where  the 
armory  of  the  United  States  called  forth  the  emphatic  record,  Oh, 
when  will  the  nations  learn  war  no  more  ? 

Returning  again  to  Boston,  he  found  to  his  high  satisfaction  that 
Mr.  Lewis  Colby,  who  had  been  associated  with  him  in  his  collect- 
ing agency,  "  had  done  nobly  in  collecting  funds."  He  then  attended 
the  Boston  Association,  meeting  that  year  with  the  first  Baptist 
church  in  that  chj,  where  he  again  plead  the  cause  of  the  West. 
The  following  week  he  attended  in  the  same  way  the  Salem  Associa- 
tion at  Lowell,  where  he  and  others  were  solemnly  impressed  by 
the  very  sudden  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Freeman,  pastor  of  the 
church  where  the  association  convened,  who  preached  Sabbath 
morning,  and  died  the  following  Tuesday  morning,  the  very  day 
before  the  association  convened. 

After  visiting  sundry  other  churches  and  places  in  the  vicinity 
of  Boston,  his  journal  states,  under  date  of  October  6th,  1835: 
"Held  a  conversation  with  Dr.  Shurtlett*  on  the  subject  of  the 
college.  He  proposed  to  give  ten  thousand  dollars  on  the  following 
conditions :  Five  thousand  dollars  for  building  purposes,  the 
college  to  be  named  Shurtleff  College,  and  the  other  five  thousand 
dollars  to  establish  a  professorship  of  rhetoric  and  elocution." 
Besides  this  sum,  Mr.  Peck  found  that  he  and  his  associate  had 
made  up  in  subscriptions,  donations,  and  collections,  about  ten 
thousand  dollars  more,  or  the  entire  four-fifths  of  the  sum  deemed 
indispensable  by  the  trustees  when  he  had  been  sent  forth.  Visiting 
once  more  Hon.  N.  Brown  in  Providence,  and  holding  another  con- 
versation with  him  in  regard  to  the  endowment  of  a  professorship, 
he  makes  this  final  record  :  "  Though  he  did  not  promise  expressly, 
I  have  strong  hopes  that  he  will  do  it."  The  following  day,  Octo- 
ber 9th,  he  took  leave  of  New  England. 

After  a  hurried  visit  to  his  old  friends  in  Caatskill  and  Hudson, 
and  to  the  church  in  Durham,  where  he  was  baptized  and  licensed 
to  preach  twenty-four  years  before,  where  he  found  the  same  pastor, 
Elder  HermonHervey,  who  had  then  officiated,  and  preached  again 
in  the  same  house  and  from  the  same  text  where  his  first  sermon 
was  delivered,  he  visited  several  of  his  wife's  and  his  own  relatives, 
and  left  New  York  on  his  w\ay  home  the  24th  of  October.  He  went 
by  the  way  of  Philadelphia  and  PittsbiiB;g,  and  reached,  after  several 
detentions,  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  November  3d.     One  week  he  re- 


RETURN  HOME — WORK    FOR   THE    COLLEGE.  2G7 

maincd  here,  attending  the  Baptist  convention  and  holding  interest- 
ing conversations  and  conferences  with  private  individuals  and 
larger  bodies,  which  he  intended  shoiild  be  promotive  of  his  great 
object,  the  evangelization  and  general  improvement  of  the  West. 

November  18th  he  reached  his  home  at  Eock  Spring,  and  found 
his  family  well.  In  this  tour  he  had  traveled  five  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty  miles,  and  secured  the  object  aimed  at.  Yet 
there  seemed  no  exultation,  only  humble  gratitude  to  the  favoring 
Providence  which  had  protected  him  and  the  Spirit  of  God  which 
had  inclined  so  many  friends  to  aid  the  good  cause  which  he  had 
advocated. 

.  On  reaching  the  site  of  the  college  at  Upper  Alton,  he  found  to 
his  mortification  that  the  buildings  and  other  improvements  had 
not  progressed  as  he  expected.  But  one  meeting  of  the  trustees 
had  been  held  in  the  seven  months  of  his  absence,  and  ihefestina 
lente  spirit  had  seemed  to  characterize  all  their  proceedings.  The 
trustees  immediately  were  called  together,  and  considerable  vigor 
was  infused  into  their  counsels  and  action.  His  earnest  spirit  chafed 
somewhat  when,  in  one  department  and  another,  he  found  a  vast 
amount  of  business  to  be  done,  and  yet  no  one  to  do  it.  But  he 
was  not  the  man  to  sit  down  despondent.  Yigor  and  efficiency 
were  soon  predominant  over  former  listlessness.  One  day  he  records 
himself  as  engaged  in  preparing  for  the  boarding-house  of  the  col- 
lege, and  arranging  the  buildings  and  improvements ;  drew  plans 
for  out-buildings,  etc.  The  next  he  was  making  out  an  approxima- 
tion towards  what  must  be  charged  for  board  of  the  students.  The 
following  list  of  provision  and  other  prices  which  he  put  down  may 
interest  some  readers  as  indicating  a  true  comparison  between  that 
day  and  this  : 

Pork,  three  dollars  and  a  half  a  hundred ;  beef,  the  same ;  common 
wheat  flour,  the  same ;  sugar,  eight  pounds  for  a  dollar ;  coff'ee, 
five  and  a  half  ditto  ;  hyson  tea,  one  dollar  a  pound  or  eighty-three 
cents  per  the  chest;  corn,  thirty-one  cents  a  bushel;  corn-meal, 
fifty  cents  ditto ;  boarding  at  common  boarding-houses  for  me- 
chanics at  two  dollars  to  two  and  a  half  per  week ;  iron  castings 
four  to  five  cents  a  pound ;  potatoes,  twenty-five  cents  a  bushel ; 
cows  (common)  twelve  dollars ;  new  milch,  fifteen  to  eighteen 
(scarce) ;  butter  by  the  firkin,  twenty-five  cents  a  pound,  and  scarce. 
Property  of  all  kinds  has  risen  from  twenty  to  thirty  per  cent,  in 
twelve  months,  or  probably  money  has  depreciated  at  that  rate. 

To  facilitate  his  labors  as  factotum,  he  took  up  his  residence  ir 
the  college  boarding-house  ;  to  regulate  which — with  forming  rules 


268  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

for  the  preparatory  department,  and  getting-  with  much  difficulty  a 
quorum  of  the  trustees  to  act  on  matters  of  most  pressing  import- 
ance, as  well  as  an  engagement  to  suppl^^  the  church  in  Alton  tliree 
Sabbaths  in  the  month,  and  strive  to  arouse  them,  and  call  back  a 
scattered  congregation — occupied  the  chief  of  his  time  and  efforts 
during  the  closing  weeks  of  the  year  1835. 

Early  in  January  he  was  in  Vandalia,  the  seat  of  government, 
mingling  from  necessity  with  politicians  and  legislators.  Fart  of 
his  object  was  to  complete  by  the  aid  of  a  Mr.  Messinger  a  larger 
and  more  accurate  map  of  Illinois  with  the  latest  and  moLt  reliable 
accounts  of  counties,  towns,  and  improvements.  While  tnere,  by 
request  of  the  legislature,  he  officiated  at  the  funeral  of  one  of 
their  number.  About  this  time,  also,  he  was  for  several  weeks  very 
busy  in  revising,  enlarging,  and  almost  making  anew  his  "  Guide 
for  Emigrants,"  a  new  edition  of  which  was  called  for,  and  printed 
in  Boston. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  this  winter  and  the  following  spring  he 
seems  to  have  been  held'  in  vacillating  uncertainty  as  to  his  own 
future  course.  Plis  health  w^as  very  infirm,  and  he  was  nearly  dis- 
couraged as  to  the  prospect  of  \;eing  able  to  endure  the  rough-and- 
tumble  of  such  traveling  preaching  tours  as  he  had  hitherto  fulfilled. 
The  city  of  Alton  (the  lower  town),  was  pretty  rapidly  advancing  in 
population  and  w^ealth,  and  there  was  a  Baptist  church  very  small, 
but  containing  some  efficient  members,  which  desired  him  to  settle 
with  them  as  their  pastor.  He  seemed  to  think  he  might  combine 
with  this  a  depository  of  Bibles,  Sunday-school  and  other  books,  and 
perhaps  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Sunday-school  operations  in  the 
West.  This  would  also  bring  him  near  the  college,  which  greatly 
needed  the  constant,  nursing  care  of  some  loving  and  capable 
friend. 

The  Pioneer  was  also  to  be  removed  from  Eock  Spring  to  Alton, 
and  a  new  project  was  set  on  foot  to  raise  one  thousand  dollars  in 
twenty  shares  to  set  the  paper  on  a  more  satisfactory  footing,  and 
four-fifths  of  the  shares  were  taken  up.  But  on  the  contrary 
Mr.  Peck  found  unexpected  difficulties  in  disposing  of  his  real  estate, 
his  homestead  at  Rock  Spring,  without  the  avails  of  which  he 
would  be  -embarrassed  in  the  attempt  to  estabhsh  himself  else- 
where. With  very  poor  and  infirm  health,  with  responsibilities  and 
virtual  pledges  to  Eastern  contributors  that  their  investment  for 
the  benefit  of  the  West  should  not  be  in  vain  and  should  be  made 
widely  efficient,  it  may  be  well  understood  his  solicitudes  were 
incessant. 


SEVERE    ATTACK   OF    SICKNESS.  *  269 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Sickness — New  Series  of  Pioneer — Pecuniary  Embarrassment — Pio- 
neer Expenses — Excessive  Labors — Alton  Riots— Death  of  Lovejoy 
— Revivals — Missionary  Tours — Pastorship  at  Rock  Spring. 

The  closing  part  of  May,  1836,  and  the  beginning  of  the  following 
month  Mr.  Peck  experienced  a  severe  attack  of  bilious  fever,  which 
in  a  few  days  brought  hin\  apparently  to  the  borders  of  the  grave. 
This  seizure  was  sudden,  and  overtook  him  when  away  from  home, 
attending  at  Brown's  Prairie  the  session  of  the  Edwardsville  Asso- 
ciation, He  lay  for  near  three  weeks  at  the  dwelling  of  Elder  Elisha 
Starkweather  too  weak  to  be  removed.  For  two  or  three  days  his 
case  remained  doubtful,  but  the  blessing  of  God  accompanied  the 
use  of  vigorous  means,  and  at  length  the  fever  left  him,  and  very 
slowly  he  began  to  amend.  He  remarks  in  regard  to  this  illness 
that  in  his  extremity  he  was  conscious  of  the  critical  situation  he 
was  in,  but  was  calm,  and  his  confidence  in  the  Saviour  was  un- 
shaken, though  from  the  nature  of  the  disease  probably  he  had  no 
joyful  emotions.  The  day  after  his  removal  to  Upper  Alton,  he 
remarks :  "  I  feel  now  exceedingly  grateful  to  God  whose  arm  alone 
has  sustained  me,  I  am  still  exceeding  weak,  and  gain  but  slowly, 
V)ut  am  free  from  fever."  He  Avas  now  in  the  family  of  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Smith,  wliicli  had  removed  with  the  printing-office  to  Upper 
Alton,  and  soon  as  he  was  able  we  find  him  going  to  the  lower  town 
and  arranging  the  Sunday-school  depository  and  bookstore  which 
he  there  established.  The  pastorship  of  that  church  had  in  the 
meantime  been  confided  to  the  Eev.  Dwight  Ives,  from  whose  effi- 
cient labors  much  good  was  expected.  The  last  day  of  June  he 
records  in  his  diary  :  "We  got  out  the  first  number  of  the  Western 
Pioneer  and  Baptist  Standard  Bearer."  This  of  course  was  but  a 
new  name  in  part,  and  a  new  series  of  the  paper  before  issued  at 
Pock  Spring,  but  hereafter  published  at  Upper  Alton  for  some  years, 
and  to  editing  which  he  seems  to  have  returned  with  fresh  vigor. 
In  the  month  of  August,  this  year,  he  mentions  giving  a  thorough 
revision  and  enlargement  to  his  map  of  Illinois,  adding  the  roads 
and  distances  of  principal  places,  also  a  thorough  revision  and  con 


270  ME3I0IR    OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

rection  of  his  "  New  Guide  for  Emigrants,"  another  edition  of  which 
his  publishers  called  for. 

Then  during  the  same  month  lie  arranged  to  attend  a  special 
meeting  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention  of  Illinois  at  Springfield, 
after  which  he  purposed  to  accomplish  an  extensive  tour  in  Mis- 
souri. During  this  meeting  at  "Springfield  the  Illinois  Baptist  Edu- 
cation Society  was  formed  under  auspicious  circumstances.  He 
acted  as  Secretary  of  the  convention,  and  remarks  that  all  his  time 
out  of  the  public  meetings  was  taken  up  in  preparing  the  minutes 
for  the  press  and  reporting  the  speeches  which  were  delivered. 
Two  or  three  times  during  the  session  he  preached  in  Springfield  or 
the  vicinity.  Then  hurrying  on  through  Jacksonville,  where  he 
also  preached,  he  reached,  between  the  Illinois  river  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  Blue  River  Association  then  in  session.  Two  very 
interesting  subjects  engaged  their  attention;  the  foreign  Bible 
cause  and  the  Education  Society  for  the  State,  which  had  just 
been  formed.  In  the  deeply-interesting  discussions  on  these  topics 
he  bore  a  leading  part,  and  strove,  out  of  the  time  of  the  sessions, 
to  report  for  his  paper  as  fully  as  possible.  The  Lord's-day  came, 
but  brought  no  rest  to  him.  He  was  appointed  to  preach  the  first 
and  principal  sermon,  which  he  delivered  under  the  trees,  where 
it  was  very  hot  and  ne  sufi"ered  much.  At  night  the  brethren  com- 
pelled him  to  preach  again  in  a  crowded  school-room,  where  the 
heat  was  almost  intolerable.  He  suffered  much  from  heat  and 
fatigue,  and  the  result  was  great  debility,  with  fever  and  inflamed 
sore  throat,  through  the  following  week.  Proceeding  on  his  way 
he  reached  Quincy,  and  stopped  at  a  "  sorry  tavern,"  where  only 
the  most  wretched  accommodations  could  be  obtained.  Could  get 
no  room,  or  fire,  which  in  his  chills  he  much  needed,  and  his  sleep- 
ing-apartment was  under  a  broken  window,  which  added  to  his  dis- 
comfort and  danger.  He  rested  most  uncomfortably^  and  next  day 
crossed  the  Mississippi  and  the  Fabius  (the  latter  in  a  canoe  to 
secure  his  trunk  and  box  of  books  from  wetting) ;  he  reached  with 
great  difficulty  through  the  muddy  bottoms  Palmyra,  and  for  two 
nights  and  a  day  rested  himself  in  the  hospitable  mansion  of  Brother 
Wm.  Wright.  September  1st  he  left  for  the  residence  of  Father 
Yardeman,  in  Balls  county,  where  he  arrived  at  night  quite  ill. 
This  indisposition,  which  was  little  else  than  the  result  of  'over- 
doing and  exposure  while  his  system  had  not  yet  recovered  from 
the  attack  before  mentioned,  confined  him  for  near  a  fortnight  at 
the  house  of  this  revered  father  in  the  ministry.  It  broke  up  his 
plans,  frustrated  his  hope  of  attending  the  Salt  River  Association, 


LECTURES   ON   ILLINOIS   HISTORY.  211 

and  then  pressing  omvard  to  tlic  Boone's  Lick  Settlement  in  Mis- 
souri, where  he  had  hoped  to  accompUsh  considerable  for  the  in- 
creased circulation  of  the  Pioneer.  Very  reluctantly  he  abandoned 
this  part  of  his  enterprise,  and  the  middle  of  September  turned 
his  face  homeward.  On  the  w^ay  he  mentions  getting  "  stalled"  in 
crossing  Bay  creek,  injured  himself  in  lifting  out  his  trunk,  box, 
and  seat,  from  his  wagon,  and  then  had  to  go  three  miles  to  get  a 
man  and  oxen  to  haul  out  his  wagon,  and  'hrough  all  these  diffi- 
culties, after  crossing  the  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois  rivers,  he 
arrived  at  his  friend  Russell's  near  Beman's  ferry,  late  at  night, 
broken  down  and  ill.  Detained  in  this  manner  about  ten  days. 
Then  passing  through  Alton,  where  he  found  many  things  suffering 
from  his  absence,  he  reached  his  family  the  very  last  day  of  the 
month  at  Eock  Spring.  After  a  week  or  two  of  lassitude  his  over- 
tasked frame  began  to  rally  again,  and  by  the  middle  of  October 
he  was  found  at  Bethel  attending  the  regular  anniversary  of  the 
Illinois  Baptist  convention.  Not  able  yet  to  be  out  evenings,  he 
was  present  at  all  the  day-sessions,  and  found  them  interesting  and 
hopeful.  Soon  after  he  began  to  preach  again  with  his  usual  fervor, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  month  this  entry  occurs  in  his  diary :  "  Thi? 
evening  I  am  forty-eight  years  old.  Still  I  am  a  great  sinner,  relying 
on  a  great  Saviour.     Lord,  help  me  to  live  more  to  thy  glory  !" 

Early  in  November  he  spent  a  Sabbath  in  Alton,  preaching 
twice  for  his  brother  Ives,  who  was  ill,  and  the  next  Lord's-day  he 
was  in  Bt.  Louis,  w^here  he  preached  three  times,  and  aided  his 
colored  brother  Meacham  in  administering  the  communion. 

Towards  the  end  of  January,  1837,  he  composed  two  lectures  on 
the  early  history  of  Illinois,  with  a  view  to  deliver  them  at  Yan- 
dalia,  the  seat  of  government,  during  the  session  of  the  Legislature. 
February  2d  he  delivered  the  first  of  these  lectures,  embracing  the 
early  exploration  of  Illinois  by  the  French,  from  1673  to  1687,  to 
a  large  audience,  consisting  of  members  of  the  legislature,  officers 
of  government,  and  other  gentlemen  interested,  assembled  in  the 
State-house. 

Two  evenings  afterward  he  delivered  the  second  lecture,  on  Ihe 
early  Indian  history  of  Illinois.  "At  the  close,  a  public  meeting 
was  organized,  and  resolutions  passed,  one  of  which  requested  me 
to  \n'ite  and  publish  a  Complete  History  of  Illinois."  A  com- 
mittee of  correspondence  was  also  appointed  to  aid  him  in  collect- 
ing materials.  He  seems  to  have"  seriously  entertained  this 
overture  for  sonie  time,  and  made  considerable  preparation  for  ita 


2T2  MEMOIR   OF   J'jHN    M.    PECK. 

performance ;  but  his  materials  were  subsequently  used  in  the 
AYestern  Annals  and  in  other  publications. 

Three  or  four  weeks  were  now  spent  by  him  in  the  capital.  In 
s.ome  of  the  debates  and  other  proceedings  in  regard  to  the  in- 
ternal improvements  in  tlie  State,  and  the  fixing  its  future  seat,  of 
government,  he  took  some  interest,  and  was  present  when  the 
measures  adopted  finally  passed.  His  minute  and  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  different  localities  was  also  increased  by  his  intercourse 
with  the  members  of  the  legislature ;  and  he  seems  to  have  given 
considerable  time  to  going  over  carefully  the  whole  ground,  for  the 
purpose  of  introducing  into  his  State  Gazetteer  the  most  recent 
and  reliable  information  of  every  locality.  While  engaged  in  this, 
another  project  was  started.  The  friends  of  internal  improvement 
were  desirous  that  a  small,  cheap  monthly  periodical  should  be 
circulated  to  advocate  their  measures,  and  meet  the  opposition 
raised  against  them.  He  was  offered  the  editorship  of  this  periodi- 
cal, and  seems  to  have  thought  it  possible  so  to  connect  it  with  the 
conducting  of  the  Pioneer  at  Alton  that  it  might  prove  a  useful 
auxiliary.  He  says  that  should  one  thousand  subscribers  be  ob- 
tained he  had  consented  to  undertake  it,  for  without  some  such 
appendage  he  could  not  sustain  the  Pioneer.  The  last  day  of 
February  he  says,  "  This  day,  by  vote  of  both  houses  of  the  legis- 
lature, the  seat  of  government  is  to  be  removed  to  Springfield 
after  the  year  1840." 

Late  in  the  spring  he  took  a  preaching  tour  through  portions  of 
Missouri.  Called  on  a  Baptist  preacher  by  the  name  of  Stevens,  a 
determined  anti-missionary.  Was  treated  kindly  by  him,  but  he 
said  very  decidedly  that  he  would  have  done  the  same  for  old  friends 
if  we  had  been  gamblers.  Such  are  his  notions  of  all  missionaries, 
and  he  preaches  this  boldly.  He  is  a  man  of  talents,  and  a  good 
speaker. 

This  year  (183t)  will  be  long  remembered  for  the  financial 
troubles  which  brought  so  much  distress  on  almost  all  portions 
of  our  country.  In  various  ways  it  affected  our  brother  very 
sensibly.  In  July  he  mentions  having  been  obliged  to  labor 
for  several  days,  as  far  as  his  strength  would  permit,  in  getting 
in  his  rye  and  hay  harvest,  because  his  means  had  become  so 
exceedingly  limited  that  he  could  not  hire.  The  expenses  of 
the  Pioneer  were  a  continued  drain  upon  his  scanty  purse,  as 
he  was  unable  to  collect  from  subscribers  more  than  one-half 


SPECIAL   AGENCY    FOR    HOME    MISSION    SOCIETY.  273 

its  actual  expenses.  Yarious  plans  were  set  on  foot  to  relieve 
him  from  this  pressure ;  and  on  the  failure  of  some  of  these, 
from  the  lukewarmness  of  a  portion  of  his  associates,  he  be- 
came for  a  time  quite  discouraged,  and  wrote  a  valedictory, 
which  was  even  put  in  type,  with  a  view  of  suspending  the 
publication  indefinitely.  But  at  just  this  crisis  other  plans 
were  proposed,  which  inspired  some  degree  of  hope,  and  he 
staggered  on  under  the  unreasonable  load  imposed  on  him. 

Just  about  this  time,  also,  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  corresponded  with  him,  proposing  to  give  hun  the  general 
agency  for  that  institution  throughout  the  northwestern  States. 
He  entertained  the  proposition  with  a  degree  of  favor,  and  wrote 
to  the  Corresponding  Secretary  very  fully  as  to  his  plans  and  hopes 
for  promoting  the  object,  specially  the  foreign  objects  of  this  or- 
ganization. Conditionally  he  proposed  to  accept  of  this  agency, 
but  before  the  time  arrived  when  he  had  expected  to  enter  on  these 
duties,  other  more  pressing  demands  were  urged  upon  him.  One 
of  these  was  from  the  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  which  he 
and  Dr.  Going  had  united  in  maturing.  The  pecuniary  pressure 
of  the  whole  country  affected  their  treasury  most  seriously,  so 
much  so  as  to  render  it  doubtful  whether  it  would  be  possible  for 
them  to  pay  the  small  stipends  they  had  promised  to  the  poor, 
toiling  missionaries  all  over  the  West.  Many  of  these  men  had 
been  appointed  on  his  recommendation ;  he  knew  them  well,  both 
their  worth  and  their  present  pressing  needs,  and  he  affirmed  most 
truthfully  that  if  the  society's  sacred  engagements  were  now 
broken  with  them,  not  only  "would  their  families  be  in  danger  of 
actual  starvation,  but  the  bad  faith — as  it  would  be  reckoned — of 
the  society  itself  would  bind  a  millstone  around  the  neck  of  evan- 
gelizing operations  in  all  this  region  for  many  years  to  come.  Under 
these  painfully  disheartening  circumstances  he  felt  himself  obliged 
to  proffer  such  aid  as  he  could  supply  in  acting  as  soliciting  agent 
for  home  missions  until  present  relief  could  be  procured.  Under 
a  special  commission  for  this  purpose  he  hastened  among  the  more 
able  churches  of  both  Missouri  and  Illinois,  and  his  importunate 
pleadings  for  help — help  in  a  pressing  exigency — were  so  far  re- 
sponded to  that  the  immediate  distress  was  relieved. 

The  true  character  of  this  man  of  God  shines  out  very 
clearly  in  his  efforts  in  this  emergency,     He  had  other  plans 


2Y4  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

connected  with  education,  periodicals  and  books,  for  the  pro- 
motion of  which  he  now  felt  the  liveliest  interest.  He  had 
an  amount  of  pecuniary  pressure  now  resting  on  him  enough  to 
have  turned  many  a  Great-heart  into  a  Mr.  Fearing.  Besides, 
some  at  least  of  these  missionaries  now  in  debt,  and  in  dan- 
ger of  suffering,  had  been  ungrateful  for  his  past  efforts  in 
their  behalf,  seemingly  more  ready  to  bite  than  to  bless  the 
hand  which  fed  them.  But  rising  above  all  this  untoward 
combination,  how  nobly  did  he  put  forth  the  most  energetic 
and  persistent  efforts  to  aid  those  whose  past  and  present 
course  but  too  fully  proved  that  the  more  abundantly  he  loved 
them  the  less  w^as  he  loved  in  return.  But  this  ill-requital 
was  not  true  of  all.  The  better  and  worthier  class  w^ere  be- 
coming more  and  more  thoroughly  convinced  that  his  career 
was  one  of  noble  disinterestedness ;  and  his  plans  generally  wise 
and  far-seeing.  Hence  the  willingness  of  this  class  to  come  up 
to  his  aid  w^henever  he  in  earnest  uttered  the  true  hailing  cry 
of  distress.  Successful  as  he  w^as  in  this  endeavor,  it  was 
only  secured  as  the  result  of  personal  efforts  and  sacrifices 
assumed  by  him  which  were  quite  disproportioned  to  any  one 
maa's  ability  long  to  bear.  The  hurried  entries  in  his  journal 
about  these  days  show  strikingly  how  he  was  driven.  Here 
is  a  specimen : 

"September  lid.  Reached  home  [after  traveling  a  great  part  of 
the  night]  before  breakfast.  My  health  is  failing  from  undue 
labors  and  exposures.  Spent  the  day  in  writing  letters,  of  which 
I  despatched  seventeen,  several  of  them  whole  sheets  full."  Next 
day  he  traveled  nearly'  forty  miles,  so  as  to  reach  the  South  District 
Association  in  time  that  very  day  to  secure  a  collection  for  mis- 
sions and  to  get  this  body  to  send  a  committee  to  visit  the 
Edwardsville  Association  next  spring  for  a  very  important  object, 
and  to  induce  them  to  recommend  the  Pioneer  to  general  patron- 
age. Tims  indefatigably  he  pressed  onward  in  promotion  of  the 
^Master's  cause.  How  well  that  Divine  Master  knew  how  to  mingle 
sweetness  in  his  cup  of  hard  experience  !  The  very  next  week  or 
two  after  the  above  efforts,  he  returns  home  and  finds  a  blessed 
revival  in  progress  among  his  neighbors.  Yea,  more,  two  of  his 
sons  were  among  the  subjects  of  the  work  which  seemed  to  be 
spreading  all  around  him,  specially  in  those  places  where  his  own 


ALTON    RIOTS    AND    MUlll'ER   OF    LOVEJOY.  275 

preaching  and  praying  had  been  most  frequent.  For  months 
about  this  period,  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  him  great  enjoyment 
and  also  great  success  in  pleading  with  sinners  to  be  reconciled  to 
God.  So  emphatically  true  and  surprising  was  this  that  he  enters 
a  minute  of  it  with  adoring  thankfulness.  "Scarce  a  sermon  have 
I  delivered  of  late  which  God  has  not  ble?sed  in  the  conversion  of 
souls." 

In  the  midst  of  these  pleasant  experiences  he  was  called  to 
witness  other  scenes  of  most  tragic  and  painful  character. 

There  is  preserved  in  his  journal,  taken  down  obviously  at 
the  very  time,  a  pretty  full  account  of  the  Alton  riots,  and 
the  murder  of  Bishop  by  the  abolition^' sts,  and  of  Lovejoy  by 
their  opponents.  He  was  induced  afterwards  to  give  a  very 
full,  and,  it  may  be  presumed,  a  very  impartial  account  of  these 
transactions,  which  transpired  in  the  very  scene  of  his  daily 
labors,  and  in  the  various  stages  of  the  progress  of  which  his 
neighbors  and  friends  were  actors  and  sufferers.  Engaged  as 
he  was  in  conducting  the  Pioneer  at  Upper  Alton,  but  two 
or  three  miles  from  the  seat  of  the  riots,  and  having  daily  to 
mingle  with  the  principal  citizens  who  had  endeavored  to 
quench  the  coals  of  strife,  while  some  few,  and  those  mainly 
from  a  distance,  seemed  determined  to  fan  them  into  a  flame, 
it  may  be  presumed  he  would  watch  very  narrowly,  and  re- 
cord cautiously  and  truthfully,  what  came  under  his  notice. 
Accordingly  his  description  of  the  occurrences  of  two  prelimi- 
nary meetings  of  the  Law  and  Order  citizens  of  Alton,  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  of  seven,  their  names,  characters,  and 
propositions,  with  the  tumultuous  and  excited  meeting  which 
failed  to  adopt  their  recommendations,  is  all  presented  in  this 
private  diary  with  every  evidence  of  candor  and  impartiality. 
Mr.  Peck  evidently  thought  at  the  time  that  there  was  no  neces- 
sity for  the  bloody  result ;  and  while  blaming  with  discrimina- 
tion the  faultiness  and  violent  pertinacity  on  both  sides,  it  is 
obvious  that  he  foresaw,  as  others  did  with  equal  clearness,  that 
the  proposed  compromise,  not  of  principles,  but  of  persons, 
would  be  sure  to  gain  more,  and  imperil  less  for  the  triumph 
of  truth,  of  righteousness,  of  freedom,  than  the  rejection  of 
it.    What  he  regarded  as  the  wrong,  the  unwise  course,  how- 


276  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

ever,  prevailed,  and  the  fearful  loss  of  life,  and  of  the  very 
object  for  which  all  this  contest  was  carried  on,  was  the  re- 
sult. 

Subsequently  to  these  public  meetings,  at  both  of  which  he 
was  present,  he  was  called  away  to  attend  a  protracted 
meeting,  and  engage  in  the  labors  of  a  revival,  where  God 
was  wondrously  pouring  out  his  spirit.  At  this  place — 
Edwardsville — he  was  thus  engaged  when  the  fearful  catas- 
trophe occurred.     This  is  his  account  of  the  occurrence  : 

It  appears  from  the  various  reports  that  a  new  press  for  the 
Observer  oflSce  was  landed  at  Alton  on  Monday  night.  On  Tues- 
day night  Mr.  Lovejoy  and  some  fifteen  or  twenty  associates,  with 
fire-arms,  entered  the  warehouse  of  Godfry  &  Gilman,  where  the 
press  was  stored,  to  defend  it.  That  about  ten  or  eleven  o'clock 
the  building  was  attacked  by  "a  mob  of  some  twenty  or  thirty 
persons,  who  demanded  the  press  for  destruction.  This  being  re- 
fused, they  assailed  the  house  with  stones.  That  Mr.  Lovejoy 
(or  some  other,  for  the  accounts  differ)  then  fired,  mortally  wound- 
ing Mr.  Bishop,  who  was  standing  alone,  neither  attempting  nor 
threatening  violence.  Bishop  was  carried  to  the  surgeon's  office, 
w^here  he  died  in  two  or  three  hours.  The  mob  then  returned 
more  exasperated.  The  Mayor  and  civil  authorities  tried  to  com- 
mand the  peace,  but  the  cry  was  "  Burn  the  hoiTse  !  burn  them 
out!"  The  building  was  then  twice  set  on  fire  in  the  roof ;  and 
after  much  fighting,  violence,  and  disorder,  the  persons  in  the  house 
• — Mr.  W.  S.  Gilman  at  the  head — proposed  to  give  up  the  press  if 
they  might  be  allowed  to  depart  in  peace.  Sometime  previous 
to  this,  however,  Mr.  Lovejoy,  who  is  represented  as  having  fought 
like  a  hero,  stepped  out  of  the  house  so  as  to  be  fully  exposed,  and 
w^hile  raising  his  gun  to  shoot  a  man  on  the  roof  setting  tire  to  it, 
received  the  shots  of  two  guns  in  his  breast.  He  walked  into  the 
house,  ascended  the  stairs,  fell  and  expired.  Horrible  scene  truly ! 
A  deep  and  lasting  disgrace  to  the  city  of  Alton ! 

In  the  meantime  the  revival  in  which  our  brother  was  en- 
gaged went  on  with  power,  and  about  a  score  of  precious 
souls  put  on  Christ  in  the  initiatory  ordinance  of  his  appoint- 
ment in  Edwardsville,  while  the  good  work  spread  extensively 
to  other  places  in  different  directions. 

Twice  as  many  sooi  followed  the  Saviour  at  Bethel,  still 


MISSIONARY    SUPERINTENDENCE — rASTORSHIP.  217 

nearer  his  residence.  Then  followed  the  regular  meeting  of 
the  State  convention,  which  appointed  him  their  general 
agent ;  and  by  an  agreement  with  the  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society  the  supervision  of  their  missionaries 
in  this  field  was  confided  to  the  Board  of  the  convention,  of 
which  by  this  appointment  he  became  the  efficient  executive. 

In  prosecution  of  these  duties  he  traveled  extensively 
through  the  central  and  western  portions  of  Illinois,  visiting 
the  missionaries  on  their  fields  of  labor,  advising  with,  encour 
aging  them,  and  in  some  instances  gathering  information  in 
regard  to  them  and  the  degree  of  their  acceptableness,  which 
he  bore  to  the  Board,  thus  enabling  the  latter  to  make  the 
wisest  disposition  of 'those  under  their  direction. 

Early  the  next  year  he  was  with  unanimity  elected  to  the 
pastorship  of  the  Baptist  church,  worshiping  at  Rock  Spring 
and  Zoar.  He  accepted  with  the  understanding  that  he 
should  devote  to  them  immediately  one-fourth  of  his  time,  and 
soon  as  he  could  terminate  other  engagements  the  half  was 
to  be  given  them.  In  this  service,  and  specially  in  religious 
visiting  among  the  families  of  this  flock,  he  seems  to  have 
felt  unusual  satisfaction.  To  himself  this  was  most  welcome 
after  so  long  having  been  deprived  chiefly  of  such  access ; 
and  as  a  means  of  increased  usefulness  to  the  souls  over 
whom  he  watched,  he  had  the  most  satisfactory  proof  of  its 
efficiency. 

As  a  specimen  of  his  Christian  and  ministerial  fidelity,  a 
letter,  to  an  inebriate,  backslidden  brother,  of  the  most 
pungent  character,  in  his  journal,  is  well  worthy  of  being 
reproduced  here,  but  space  cannot  be  found  for  it. 

He  subsequently  wrote  :  "  This  and  other  letters  had  the 
desired  effect,  and  completely  reclaimed  him."  How  blessed 
the  consciousness  of  having  been  thus  made  the  honored 
instrument  of  reclaiming  the  sinner  from  the  error  of  his 
ways,  and  saving  a  soul  from  death  !  This  man,  too,  was 
one  of  high  standing  and  wide  influence,  thereby  enabled  to 
do  extensive  good. 
24 


2t8  MEMOIR   OP   JOHN   M.    PECK. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

Transfer  of  the  Pioneer — Mission  Tours — Extent  of  Correspondence 
—  Return  of  Illness— Fifty  Years  Old — Pastorsliip  at  Belleville. 

Near  the  close  of  the  j^ear  1838  sundry  communications 
were  received  by  Mr.  Peck  from  the  publisher  and  editor  of 
the  Baptist  Banner,  Louisville,  Ky.,  proposing  a  union  of  the 
two  papers.  So  great  had  been  his  embarrassment  in  sus- 
taining almost  alone,  with  only  casual  and  trifling  contribu- 
tions from  a  few  public-spirited  brethren,  this  whole  enterprise 
that  he  felt  constrained  to  regard  such  an  overture  favorably. 

Earlier  in  the  3^ear,  about  the  last  of  May  and  June,  he  had  taken 
an  extensive  tour  throughout  the  whole  of  Northeastern  Missouri 
from  St.  Loiris  and  Columbia,  in  which  latter  place  he  had  attended 
the  "central  meeting"  of  Missouri  Baptists,  where  some  twenty 
ministers  and  many  private  brethren  convened,  counseled,  and  in 
fused  new  vigor  into  their  plans  for  domestic  missions  ;  thence 
onward  to  the  northern  corner,  and  even  into  Iowa  across  the 
Des  Moines  river.  He  was  performing  in  all  this  journey  the  work 
of  an  exploring  missionary  agent,  and  made  full  report  of  the 
result  of  his  investigation  to  the  Secretary  of  the  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society  in  New  York.  He  found  much  to  be  done 
in  counseling  with  missionaries  and  churches  on  this  field,  and  tried 
to  settle  difficulties,  remove  misconceptions  and  prejudices,  and 
arrest  the  tendency  to  schism  which  he  found  prevalent  in  several 
localities. 

Eor  this  purpose  he  had  some  important  advantages.  A 
native  of  New  England  himself,  and  fully  acquainted  with 
the  views  and  practices  prevalent  among  his  Eastern  brethren, 
he  had  also  the  experience  of  many  years  residence  in  the 
free  West,  had  mingled  much  with  the  in-comers  from  every 
section  of  our  own  country  and  from  other  lands,  had  learned 
that  all  possible  excellencies  were  not  found  among  any  one 


PRO.MOTINa    SAEB.VTII    OBSEilVA.N'CE.  2t9 

class,  but  that  the  free  mingling-  and  blending  of  all,  and  the 
eclectic  spirit  which  culls  the  good  from  every  quarter  was  the 
true  wisdom  and  the  solemn  duty  of  these  new  settlers.  How 
earnestly  and  perseveringly  he  labored  to  diffuse  this  spirit, 
wherever  most  needed,  his  journals  bear  frequent  witness.  In 
preaching  and  prayer,  and  specially  in  all  his  private  inter- 
course with  the  "one-sided"  brethren  w^hom  he  met,  his  en- 
deavor w^as  to  soften  their  hearts,  and  to  lessen,  if  he  could 
not  entirely  remove,  their  mutual  prejudices  and  antipathies. 
In  these  efforts  he  was  measurably  successful,  and  great  good 
w^as  the  result. 

On  his  return  home  a  notice  occurs,  under  date  of  July  22d, 
of  his  preaching  with  great  earnestness  in  behalf  of  the  better 
observance  of  the  Sabbath.  As  is  too  common  in  the  new 
settlements,  and  where  but  a  portion  of  the  Lord's-days  have 
religious  services,  the  young  persons  get  into  lax  and  lawless 
habits  of  desecrating  the  holy  day.  To  his  great  grief  he 
learned  that  some  of  his  ow^n  children  along  with  many  of 
their  neighbors  had  done  this,  and  his  spirit  was  deeply 
stirred  within  him  to  attempt  a  thorough  reformation.  His 
earnest  and  solemn  remonstrance  on  this  subject,  with  a  lucid 
illustration  of  the  great  Sabbath  law,  as  made  for  man  uni- 
versal, seems  to  have  done  much  good  ;  and  in  various  circles, 
at  associations  and  elsewhere,  he  discoursed  on  this  important 
practical  measure  with  happy  effect. 

Late  in  this  month  he  set  forth  again  for  another  similar  tour 
of  nearly  six  weeks  in  Central  and  Western  Illinois,  and  extending 
into  Iowa.  He  mentions,  as  one  encouraging  feature  of  what  he 
found,  that  "  Baptist  churches  in  every  direction  were  building 
meeting-houses."  Some  of  these  were  indeed  very  humble  and  of 
primitive  simplicity  ;  others  were  more  pretentious  and  commodious 
as  well  as  tasteful ;  while  in  both  classes  there  was  a  common  dis- 
position to  begin  and  not  finish,  and  hence  many  inceptive  and 
hitherto  abortive  efforts  of  this  character  stood  forth  only  in  their 
incomplete  and  rcpellant  condition  to  mock  the  inefficiency  of  their 
projectors.  His  efforts  had  to  be  often  turned  to  awakening  and 
directing  public  spirit  and  endeavors  to  the  finishing  of  such  enter- 
prises, or  at  least  to  bringing  them  to  such  a  condition  that  they  could 


280  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

be  used  and  preserved  from  ruinous  waste  or  dilapidation.  The 
territory  of  Iowa  was  just  now  attracting  considerable  interest, 
and  was  drawing  into  it  a  worthy  class  of  emigrants  from  different 
quarters.  His  efforts  and  counsels  here  in  the  several  counties 
which  he  visited,  chiefly  in  the  southeastern  section  of  the  ter- 
ritory, were  timely  and  useful  in  an  uncommon  degree.  He  man- 
aged, too,  to  attend  as  many  associations  and  protracted  meetings 
as  possible  throughout  his  whole  tour.  The  Military  Tract  of  Il- 
linois, as  that  inviting  portion  of  the  State  between  the  Illinois 
and  Mississippi  rivers  is  called,  often  drew  him  within  its  borders, 
and  the  blessed  fruits  of  his  footprints,  his  early  labors  and  counsels, 
yet  remain  indelible  there. 

Immediately  on  his  return  home  from  this  tour  he  was  again 
seized  with  congestive  bilious  fever,  which  brought  him  to  the 
brink  of  the  grave.  After  hngering  a  while  in  apparent  equipoise 
between  life  and  death  he  at  length  slowly  recovered,  but  was  for 
eight  weeks  unable  to  preach.  During  this  confinement  the  State 
convention  of  Baptists  in  Illinois  held  its  anniversary,  and  knowing 
with  what  difficulty  he  had  for  months  struggled  to  maintain  his 
paper,  the  Pioneer,  they  proposed  to  raise  a  fund  adequate  to 
purchase  it,  and  help  him  hereafter  to  conduct  it  more  efficiently 
as  their  editor.  The  convention  committee,  charged  wath  the  exe- 
cution of  the  enterprise,  entered  upon  the  attempt  with  consider- 
able zeal,  aiid  raised  in  pledges  about  the  half  of  w'hat  was  requisite. 
So  sanguine  were  they  of  being  able  to  complete  the  whole  smn 
that  it  for  a  while  arrested  the  progress  of  the  negotiation  men- 
tioned in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  for  uniting  this  paper  with 
the  one  in  Louisville. 

Mr.  Peck  did  not  share  in  these  cheering  expectations  of  success. 
He  had  seen  more  efforts  of  the  same  kind,  after  beginning  hope- 
fully, end  in  disappointment,  than  the  younger  brethren  who  were 
making  this  attempt.  However,  he  waited  patiently  till  the  end  of 
the  year,  giving  all  the  time  asked  to  test  the  practicability  of  the 
endeavor.  He  used  this  intervening  period  also  most  wdsely  in 
writing  to  the  more  influential  brethren  in  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
especially  those  who  had  done  most  in  aiding  the  circulation  of  the 
paper,  telling  them  frankly  that  in  the  years  of  his  conducting  it, 
besides  all  his  owm  time,  labor,  and  risk,  he  had  actually  smik  between 
three  and  four  thousand  dollars  in  cash  in  the  endeavor  to  carry  it 
on,  and  that  he  could  do  no  more,  asking  them,  at  the  same  time, 
whether  under  these  circumstances  they  would  not  advise  the  trans- 
fer of  its  subscription-Hst  to  the  Kentucky  Banner.     Almost  unaui. 


TRANSFER   OF   PIONEER — HARRIS'    UNION.  281 

mously  they  responded  in  tlie  affirmative,  so  that  with  cordial  assent 
and  approval  this  transfer  was  made  in  January,  1839.  The  under- 
standing was  that  he  should  continue  to  collect  the  outstanding 
dues  of  the  concern  until  he  had  paid  himself  for  his  current  ad- 
vances, and  tlien  all  the  future  pecuniary  interest  w^as  to  become 
vested  in  the  publisher  of  the  Banner,  who  obligated  himself  to 
pay  Mr.  Peck  a  small  amount  for  each  subscriber  who  might  con- 
tinue to  take  the  paper  after  this  union.  The  name  of  the  Pioneer 
was  also  to  be  combined  with  the  Banner  so  as  to  make  the  union 
as  perfect  as  possible.  He  was  desired  to  continue  his  own  services 
as  assistant-editor,  but  wisely  declined  at  such  a  distance  as  his 
residence  from  the  place  of  publication  being  more  than  a  con- 
tributor, though  afterward  by  the  earnest  entreaty  of  Illinois  breth- 
ren he  did  for  a  time  assent  to  the  former  arrangement.  His  son- 
in-law,  Mr.  Smith,  who  had  been  the  printer,  and  greatly  aided  in 
selecting  articles  for  the  Pioneer,  was  thus  thrown  out  of  employ, 
and  the  poor,  meager  printing-office  w^as  left  on  Mr.  Peck's  hands 
as  well  as  the  house  and  office  in  Upper  Alton,  where  it  had  been 
published.  Soon  as  practicable  these  w^ere  disposed  of,  and  thus  a 
great  burden  was  cleared  from  his  shoulders. 

This  gave  him  more  time  for  pastoral  and  missionary  work. 
It  also  allowed  him  more  opportunity  to  read  and  enrich  his 
mind,  by  a  survey  of  the  best  thoughts  of  the  most  nobly 
endowed  and  cultivated  intellects,  which  he  was  always  ready 
to- do,  but  often  lacked  the  time  for  it.  The  brief  and  sum- 
mary notes  and  critiques  which  appear  in  his  journal,  in 
regard  to  books  thus  read  by  him,  are  often  interesting.  Here 
is  a  specimen.  He  had  much  admired  many  of  the  writings 
of  John  Harris,  D.D.,  his  Great  Commission,  Mammon,  and 
some  others,  and  he  now  fell  upon  his  volume  on  Christian 
Union.    After  reading  which,  he  thus  discriminatcly  analyzes  : 

I\Iany  good  thoughts  and  suggestions  are  here,  but  also  some 
sophistry.  Union  among  all  Christians  is  certainly  desirable,  but 
it  never  can  be  gained  by  compromise  with  any  part  of  scriptural 
obedience  or  duty.  Harris  la\s  down  the  following  as  the  "kind" 
oi  union  to  be  sought:  ^^  Union,  to  he  permanent,  must  he  hased  on 
the  sole  autliority  of  the  loord  of  God,  and  the  inalienable  right  of 
•private  judgment."  And  yet  there  runs  through  this  treatise  the 
assumption  that  Christians  must  surrender  minor  matters.     After- 


282  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.   PECK. 

wards  he  urges,  "A  rejection  of  all  terms  of  comTnunion,  which  aro 
not  terms  of  salvation."  Now,  as  in  exercising  the  "  inalienable  right 
of  private  judgment,"  I  verily  believe  this  to  be  an  unscriptural 
doctrine,  therefore,  on  this  very  point.  Dr.  Harris  and  J.  M.  Peck 
are  as  wide  apart  as  before. 

Here  is  another  specimen,  in  quite  another  range  of  literature. 
"  Eead  Faulkland  by  Bulwer.  Its  tendencies  are  certainly  licen- 
tious. The  impression  made  by  reading  the  book  would  be  that 
the  passion  of  unlawful  love  is  uncontrollable,  and  that  all  attempts 
at  self-government  are  useless.  Walter  Scott's  novels  have  a  con- 
trary tendency.  They  leave  the  impression  of  blame  adhering  to 
criminal  acts  and  desires,  as  well  as  their  destructive  tendencies." 

Early  in  the  year  1839  he  wrote  a  third  lecture  on  the  early 
history  of  Illinois,  embracing  the  conquest  of  that  territory  by 
General  G.  R.  Clark,^ which  he  also  dehvered  at  Yandalia  by  re- 
quest of  members  of  the  legislature  and  others,  with  much 
acceptance. 

How  intensely  busy  he  must  have  been  during  all  this 
period  is  obvious,  for  I  find  the  record  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  letters  written  by  him  in  the  first  two  months  of 
this  year,  besides  transacting  an  unusual  amount  of  business 
connected  with  the  transfer  of  his  paper,  the  removal  'and 
settlement  of  his  son-in-law  in  a  new  location,  and  preaching 
almost  every  Sabbath,  as  well  as  numerous  journeys,  which 
even  at  that  inclement  season  of  hard  traveling  he  Wiis 
obliged  to  undertake.  Copies  of  some  of  these  letters  are 
preserved,  and  they  are  by  no  means  brief,  but  extend  to  a 
dozen  foolscap  pages,  written  out  and  copied  by  no  machine 
process,  but  by  the  slow  and  careful  labor  of  forming  one 
letter  at  a  time  by  the  pen.  The  matter  of  some  of  these 
epistles  is  as  elaborate  and  carefully  constructed  as  any  thing 
which  he  ever  wrote.  Take  for  an  example  his  defence  of 
th(3  right  and  the  wisdom  of  a  Baptist  presbytery  to  proceed 
to  the  fellowship  of  a  minister  coming  over  to  us  from  another 
evangelical  denomination  without  anew  laying  on  hands 
upon  him,  as  an  entire  re-ordination.  The  ground  he  assumes 
is,  that  Baptist  independency  of  churches  demands  this  free- 
dom in  judgment  on  the  part  of  each  church,  and  each 
ordaining  council  assembled  by  their  desire,  and  hence,  while 


THE    QUESTION    OF    RE-OKDINATION.  283 

the  practice  in  such  cases  is  various,  neither  the  one  course 
nor  the  other  is  to  be  condemned — for  which  judgment  he 
certainly  furnishes  very  cogent  reasons,  in  answer  to  a 
ministering  brother  who  had  somewhat  violently  assailed 
him,  both  as  a  pastor  and  an  editor,  for  taking  the  part 
which  his  conscience,  in  a  particular  case,  approved. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  an  abler  argument  is  extant  than 
this  long  letter  contains  on  that  side  of  the  question.  It 
would  seem  that  he  had  made  himself  familiar. with  all  the 
views  and  practices  on  this  subject  of  Baptists,  early  and 
modern,  in  this  country  and  abroad,  as  well  as  the  reasons 
they  assigned  for  them.  One  cannot  but  marvel  at  the  extent 
and  accuracy  of  his  research.  At  the  same  time  he  evinces 
no  pertinacity  for  the  prevalence  of  his  views  in  regard  to 
this  practice  of  re-ordination;  but  says  candidly,  on  the  very 
threshold,  that  he  regards  it  as  one  of  those  difficult  and 
delicate  questions  about  which  sound  and  orthodox  Baptists 
differ,  and  that  a  controversy  on  it  would  do  no  good,  and 
might  do  harm.  Hence  he  forebore  to  publish  these  views,  and 
contented  himself  with  presenting  them  to  the  brother  referred 
to,  in  a  private  letter.  This  was  his  more  common  practice 
in  all  similar  cases,  and  in  after  years  he  was  wont  to  speak 
of  this  course  as  in  his  judgment  much  happier  than  to 
publish  abroad  more  freely,  in  doubtful  cases. 

When  his  year  of  pastorship  at  Rock  Spring  terminated,  he  was 
unanimously  re-elected,  and  consented  to  serve  the  church  as 
before,  viz. :  to  visit  each  family  (they  were  not  very  numerous) 
once  a  quarter,  and  to  preach  three  or  four  sermons  to  them  every 
month,  ordinarily  occupying,  however,  but  one  Sabbath  of  the 
month,  as  his  other  Sabbaths  were  claimed  elsewhere,  in  St.  Louis 
frequently,  and  in  other  important  parts  of  his  great  field. 

ii  the  latter  part  of  April,  1839,  he  was  urged  by  brethren  m 
Kentucky  to  visit  them,  as  an  important  meeting  was  to  be  held  in 
Lexington  for  the  organization  of  a  State  auxiliary  to  the  American 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  it  was  desired  that  the  same  occa- 
sion should  be  improved,  when  the  brethren  were  generally 
together,  to  consider  other  questions  of  common  and  important 
interest  to  the  welfare  of  the  denomination,  not  only  in  Kentucky,  but 


281  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

also  in  other  Western  States.  Thursday,  April  25th,  he  left  St.  Louis 
for  this  purpose  in  a  splendid  steamer — the  Western,  Captain 
Price — making  twelve  miles  an  hour.  How  unlike  the  facihties 
of  locomotion  twenty-two  3'^ears  before,  when  he  first  traversed 
those  waters  !  He  reached  Louisville  Sunday  noon,  and  w^as 
cordially  welcomed  by  his  yoke-fellows  Elliott  and  Waller,  the 
publisher  and  editor  of  the  Banner  and  Pioneer,  and  by  other 
brethren.  After  remaining  three  or  four  days  there  he  took  the 
stage  for  Lexington,  and  was  an  active  participant  in  the  councils 
and  proceedings  of  the  convention,  which  was  in  session  a  number 
of  days.  He  preached  the  opening  sermon,  and  preached  again  on 
the  Sabbath. 

In  regard  to  Bible  operations,  he  records  :  "  Find  a  concurrence 
among  the  brethren  on  leading  principles.  None  are  friendly  to  a 
new  version  of  the  English  Scriptures.  All  agree  that  the  first 
and  paramount  object  should  be,  the  foreign  field,  and  that  very 
little  ought  to  be  expended  for  liomt  work,  stereotype  plates,  etc. 
Luring  this  meeting,  Eev.  Dr.  Noel,  pastor  of  the  Lexington 
Baptist  church,  a  great  and  good  man,  died,  and  his  funeral 
sermon  was  preached  by  Elder  Buck,  pastor  of  the  first  Baptist 
church  in  Louisville." 

Before  the  close  of  the  meeting  other  subjects  were  discussed, 
such  as  the  union  of  the  Banner  and  Pioneer,  which  was  much  ap- 
proved, ministerial  education,  but  more  especially  the  desirable- 
ness of  a  Western  organization  for  home  missions.  Mr.  Peck 
spoke  at  large  on  this  subject,  and  thought  it  could  be  effected  so  as  to 
move  in  entire  harmony  with  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society  by  a  sort  of  partnership  ;  and  that  it  would  give  much 
energy  and  system  to  the  cause  in  the  Western  and  specially  the 
Southwestern  States,  where  much  more  extensive  efforts  are 
needed. 

While  in  Lexington,  he  was  waited  on  by  a  committee  to 
inquire  if  he  would  consent  to  receive  an  invitation  to  a 
pastorsbip  in  that  city.  He  records  his  conviction  of  the  im- 
portance and  desirableness  of  the  position,  among  wealthy, 
spirited,  and  liberal  bretbren.  No  doubt  he  felt  some  influence 
from  these  attractions ;  but  he  remembered  the  destitution  and 
greater  need  of  his  services  in  the  field  he  had  l^ft  behind 
him,  and  like   a  scripture  worthy  wbo  was  tempred  by  the 


ASSOCIATION — REVIVAL — BAPTIZING    HIS    SON,  285 

proffer  of  elevation,  lie  responded,  "  I  dwell  among  my  own 
people." 

He  advocated  the  cause  of  temperance  and  of  colonization  while 
there,  and  subsequently  returned  by  the  "way  of  Georgetown,  where 
he  preached,  and  then,  in  Louisville  and  the  adjacent  towns  in 
Indiana,  he  spent  a  Sabbath  or  two  more,  pleading  the  cause  of 
Christ  and  of  souls,  and  aiding  in  the  incipient  measures  for  the 
formation  of  a  new  Baptist  church.  During  all  this  period  he  w'as 
much  in  consultation  and  co-operation  with  J.  L.  Waller,  the 
editor  of  the  paper,  in  which,  as  the  successor  of  his  own  "pet" 
which  had  engrossed  for  years  so  much  of  his  time,  care,  and 
money,  he  felt  a  paternal  interest.  He  reached  home  the  18th 
of  May,  in  imperfect  health,  having  suffered  considerable  during 
his  whole  journey  .from  congestion  of  the  hver,  which  was  in 
danger  of  becoming  chronic.  Near  the  end  of  May  the  Edwards- 
ville  Association  held  its  annual  session  with  the  church  at  Eock 
Spring,  his  residence.  The  business  occupied  but  Httle  of  the  time, 
so  that  ample  opportunity  was  gained  for  preaching,  which  was 
continued  day  and  night  with  happy  effect.  A  considerable 
revival  was  the  direct  result,  in  which  tw^o  of  his  children  and  the 
hired  girl  were  deeply  impressed,  and  one  or  more  of  the  number 
cherished  hope  of  having  passed  from  death  to  life.  This  was  joy 
indeed  to  a  loving  and  devoted  father.  He  baptized  on  two  occa- 
sions twenty-two  in  all,  one  of  whom  was  his  son  William. 

On  the  4th  of  July  he  delivered  in  Belleville  an  oration  on  the 
prmciples  and  tendencies  of  democraci/,  meeting  entirely  the  ap- 
probation of  both  political  parties.  He  endeavored  to  show  that 
gospel  moraHty  hes  at  the  foundation  of  true  democratic  principles. 
A  committee  from  each  party  requested  its  publication,  with  which 
he  complied.  One  week  later  he  set  off  with  his  old  fellow-laborer, 
Rev.  J.  E.  Welch,  on  a  preaching  tour  in  Missouri,  which  occupied 
a  fortnight,  and  the  following  month,  August,  he  rode  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  miles  to  attend  the  Clear  Creek  Association  in 
Missouri.  Was  hospitably  entertained  during  its  session  by  an 
intelligent  and  liberal-minded  man,  Mr.  A.,  who  kept  a  small  distil- 
lery to  make  whisky  for  his  own  use.  He  aclmowledged  that  he  loved 
it,  and  sometimes  got  drunk.  His  guest,  availing  himself  of  the 
man's  frankness,  gave  him  repeated  and  earnest  admonitions  during 
his  sojourn  ;  the  result  was  that  he  soon  became  an  active,  praying 
Christian,  and  of  course  put  away  his  strange  gods.  Yea,  much 
more  than  this  was  effected :  the  holy  flame  of  converting  grace 


286  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

becoming  thus  kindled,  spread  in  different  directions.  In  a  foot- 
note, subsequently  added  to  this  part  of  his  journal,  it  is  stated 
that  "  This  revival  spread  through  the  country,  and  many  pro- 
fessed Christ  and  were  baptized.  The  churches  took  quite  a  dif- 
ferent course  in  regard  to  practical  religion  from  this  time,  said  to 
be  caused  principally  by  my  very  plain  preaching.  I  preached 
under  a  pecuUar  impulse,  as  for  my  life,  to  both  saint  and  sinner, 
and  God  blessed  the  word — his  own  word — abundantly.  To  him 
be  all  the  praise  !" 

On  the  5th  of  September  himself  and  wife  started  for  along  tour 
through  Centi  al  and  Northern  Illinois  and  a  corner  of  Northern  In- 
diana into  Michigan,  partly  for  missionary  labor  and  supervision  and 
to  visit  his  wife's  relatives.  First  reached  and  attended  the  North 
District  Association,  held  with  the  Salem  church,  Hamilton  settle- 
ment, at  a  camp-ground,  where  during  the  night  they  were  thor- 
oughly drenched  with  rain.  By  special  appointment,  and  at  the 
instance  of  a  number  of  the  Methodist  neighbors,  Mr.  Peck  preached 
a  long  discourse  on  baptism.  These  Methodists  said  that  they  had 
heard  repeated  representations  from  their  ovni  ministers  as  to  what 
the  Baptists  beUeved  and  practiced,  and  they  now  desired  to  have 
the  statement  from  themselves.  This  resulted  in  the  sermon  of 
two  and  a  half  hours  above  mentioned,  which  he  preached  from 
Acts  ii.  37  to  the  end  of  the  chapter.  Six  or  eight  of  the  Method- 
ist members  left  their  society  and  were  baptized  before  the  end  of 
the  meeting.  The  whole  journey  above  indicated  was  accomplished 
not  without  the  usual  accompaniment  of  such  tours,  sundry  break- 
downs, the  loss  of  the  right  way  in  the  woods  and  on  the  prairies, 
and  specially  many  thorough  wettings  in  the  rains  which  were 
raiore  than  usually  abundant  for  this  season  of  the  year.  As  often'- 
as  possible  he  called  on  missionary  and  other  ministering  brethren, 
aided  them  in  labors,  counsels,  and  sympathy,  and  learned  all  he 
could  of  the  existing  and  prospective  religious  condition  of  that 
extensive  country.  On  this  tour  he  made  his  first  visit  to  Chicago, 
reaching  that  incipient  city  the  end  of  September,  and  spending 
a  Sabbath  and  several  da3'^s  with  Brethren  Hinton,  the  pastor. 
Dr.  Boon,  and  others,  and  preaching  several  times. 

At  Elgin,  on  Fox  river,  he  attended  another  associatioD 
(name  not  given)  where  by  appointment  he  preached,  giving 
a  historical  sketch  of  the  origin,  rise,  and  progress  of  the  Bap- 
tists in  Illinois.    Then  hurrying  on  his  way  by  Ottawa  towards 


FAILING    HEALTH    OF    MR.  PECK.  281 

Bloomington,  where  the  Illinois  Baptist  State  convention  was 
about  to  meet,  he  was  arrested  by  sickness,  and  confined  for 
ten  days,  so  that  he  failed  entirely  of  reaching  the  convention, 
though  having  all  the  records  and  papers,  so  essential  for 
their  use,  in  his  trunk.  Then,  soon  as  he  was  able  to  ride 
a  little,  he  slowly  moved  on  his  weary  way  towards  home 
through  Newark,  Ottawa,  Yermillionville,  Washington,  Tre- 
mont,  Delavan,  to  Springfield,  where  he  stopped  for  a  short 
time,  and  reached  home  near  the  end  of  October.  The  fol- 
lowing two  days'  entries  in  his  journals  are  copied  entire,  as 
indicating  the  convictions  he  had  reached  in  regard  to  himself, 
and  the  feelings  with  which  life's  survey  was  accompanied. 

October  29th.  Reached  home  and  found  all  well.  Quite  fatigued. 
Learned  the  afflicting  news  that  Charles  Darrow  (a  valued  neighbor) 
died  yesterday,  and  was  buried  to-day.  This  is  a  heavy  loss  to  our 
church  and  the  neighborhood.  After  much  serious  reflection  I 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  I  must  give  up  traveling  and  all 
missionary  agency.  I  have  now  made  trials  for  four  seasons,  and 
cannot  sustain  the  fatigue,  labor,  and  exposure.  My  liver  is  per- 
manently afiected,  my  constitution  seriously  impaired,  and  I  must 
retire  to  a  more  quiet  and  sedentary  life.  There  is  field  enough  for 
me  to  occup3^  around  me,  and  Divine  Providence  will  in  some  way 
provide  for  me. 

October  Z\st.  This  day  I  am  fifty  years  old — turned  half  a  cen- 
tury. Wlien  I  look  back,  how  short  and  frail  a  thing  is  life  !  Not 
only  my  years  are  gone,  but  my  ph3^sical  powers  have  failed  greatly 
within  a  few  years  past.  I  am  now  amold  man,  and  ought  to  regard 
myself  as  such,  and  be  looking  every  day  for  my  great  change.  O 
Lord,  help  me  to  consecrate  m3'^self  to  thy  work  and  cause.  Help 
me  to  live  the  rest  of  my  feeble  life  to  thy  glory. 

Near  the  end  of  the  following  month  a  pleasant  incident 
occurred,  which  illustrates  very  strikingly  his  Christian  char- 
acter, and  its  results.  A  neighbor  who  had  been  an  anti- 
mission  Baptist  minister,  and  both  in  that  relation  and  as  a 
politician  had  done  ^Ir.  Peck  all  the  injury  in  his  power,  but 
towards  whom  our  brother  seems  to  have  exercised  the  trne 
Christian  return  of  rendering  good  for  evil  to  an  uncommon 
extent,  now  summoned  him  to  officiate  at  the  marriajre  of  his 


288  MEMOIR   or   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

youngest  daughter,  and  at  the  end  of  the  ceremony  handed 
him  the  unusual  fee  of  fifty  dollars,  saying  in  the  hearing  of 
all  the  guests  that  it  was  because  of  his  special  respect  for 
him.  How  blessed  the  privilege  of  thus  overcoming  evil  with 
good  1 

In  furtherance  of  his  plans  to  change  somewhat  the  course  of 
his  hitherto  very  active  life,  he  endeavored  to  put  off  some  of  his 
official  cares  and  get  others  into  harness  for  bearing  a  portion  of 
his  public  burdens.  After  exerting  himself  to  the  utmost  to  wind 
up  his  relations  as  general  agent  of  the  State  convention  and  of  the 
Home  Mission  Society,  he  made  a  somewhat  detailed  report  of  his 
last  year's  labors  in  these  appointments,  of  w^hich  the  summary 
shows  that  he  had  written  two  hundred  and  ninety-four  letters  on 
missionary  affairs,  visited  and  labored  continuously  in  seventeen 
different  churches,  attended  four  associations,  preached  (on  his 
mission  field)  sixty-four  sermons,  delivered  thirty-eight  lectures  and 
a4dresses,  baptized  twenty-one  converts,  and  traveled  three  thousand 
five  hundred  and  twenty-eight  miles,  of  which  one»thouaand  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  were  by  steamboat  and  stage,  and  two  thousand 
four  hundred  and  ten  by  his  horse. 

Looking  forward  to  some  other  disposal  of  his  time,  he  vielded 
to  the  solicitations  of  his  neighbors  in  Belleville,  and  accepted  the 
pastorship  of  that  church  in  addition  to  the  one  at  his  residence, 
Eock  Spring  and  Zoar.  In  this  way  he  expected  to  have  more 
than  half  his  time  disponed  of  in  his  own  immediate  neighborhood. 

The  Belleville  interest  had  sunk  very  low,  though  embracing 
valuable  materials,  and  he  set  himself  immediately  to  work  for 
resuscitating  it.  For  this  purpose,  in  part,  he  announced  a  series 
of  lectures  on  sacred  history,  thus  striving  to  call  out  and  interest 
the  young  men.  The  introductory  of  this  course  he  delivered  on 
Saturday  evening,  January  18th,  1840,  "to  as  crowded  an  assembly 
as  could  get  into  the  house,  and  many  went  away  disappointed. 
It  seemed  to  produce  an  excellent  effect."  In  this  and  other  feasible 
ways  he  was  trying  his  utmost  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and 
gain  the  ear  that  he  might  win  the  heart  of  a  worldly-minded  com- 
munity. He  unmediately  set  about  the  systematic  religious  visiting 
of  the  families  of  his  flock,  and  with  these  labors  for  Belleville,  and 
somewhat  similar  efforts  in  the  church  at  his  residence,  which  had 
fallen  into  some  disorder  and  coldness  in  his  long  and  frequent 
absences,  the  early  weeks  of  the  year  1840  were  fully  occupied. 


ILLINOIS  CONVENTION.  289 


CHAPTER    XXY. 

Various  Labors  and  Trials — Transfer  to  Louisville,  Ky. 

It  may  be  recollected  that  the  illness  of  Mr.  Peck  pre- 
vented his  reaching  the  place  of  meeting  for  the  Illinois  con- 
vention of  Baptists  in  the  autumn  of  1839.  Those  who  assem- 
bled on  that  occasion,  without  the  aid  and  the  records  of  the 
Secretary,  proceeded  to  make  some  rather  radical  changes  in 
the  constitution  of  the  convention  and  in  the  general  opera- 
tions of  an  evangelizing  character  which  it  was  seeking  to 
carry  forward.  Proceeding,  too,  without  the  requisite  caution 
and  wisdom,  what  they  attempted  to  accomplish  was,  in  some 
cases  at  least,  irregular  and  abnormal.  When  the  minutes 
of  their  proceedings  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  for 
the  usual  revision  and  publication,  he  at  once  perceived  these 
unconstitutional  proceedings,  and  so  far  as  practicable  cor- 
rected what  he  was  sure  was  wrong  in  the  hasty  proceedings 
of  the  body.  This  gave  offence  in  certain  quarters,  and  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Board  in  the  early  spring,  which  also  the 
Secretary  failed  to  reach  by  reason  of  ill-health  and  bad 
traveling,  a  vote  of  censure  was  passed  upon  his  action,  and 
a  communication  forwarded  to  the  Banner  and  Pioneer  for 
insertion,  reflecting  rather  harshly  on  his  proceedings.  No 
wonder  that  he,  as  principal  founder  of  the  convention,  and 
the  man  who  had  been  throughout  the  right-hand  of  its  ope- 
rations, felt  aggrieved  by  these  proceedings,  and  earnestly 
remonstrated  against  them.  This  led  to  some  unpleasant 
correspondence  between  the  parties,  in  which,  however,  he 
appears  to  have  preserved  a  happy  degree  of  equanimity,  and 
the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ.  Eventually,  the  pro- 
ceedings which  he  complained  of  were  all  rescinded,  and  their 
record  ordered  to  be  struck  from  the  minutes  by  a  nearly  or 
25 


290  MEMOIR    ur    JOHN    M.   I'KCK. 

quite  unanimous  vote.  In  reviewing  these  proceedings  at 
this  distance  of  time  from  their  transaction,  it  may  not  be 
easy  to  say  who' was  most  in  fault.  But  this  incident  shows 
most  clearly  huw  possible  it  is  for  very  good  brethren,  aiming 
at  the  good  of  the  same  cause,  to  see  things  differently  and 
how  much  allowance  is  due  for  human  infirmit}^  and  mutual 
misconception. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May,  1840,  we  find  Mr.  Peck  setting 
forth  for  a  month's  absence  from  home  for  the  double  purpose 
of  attending  first  the  regular  session  of  the  Edwardsville  Asso- 
ciation, meeting  that  year  at  Carlinville,  and  next  proceeding 
a<iross  the  country  by  land-route  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  to  meet 
tlie  convention  of  Western  Baptists.  The  association,  though 
not  very  numerously  attended,  was  a  pleasant  and  satisfactory 
session.  On  the  Lord's-day,  the  great  day  of  the  feast,  Elder 
Hinton  preached  in  the  morning  on  the  signs  of  Christ's 
coming.  He  enumerated  seven  distinct  signs,  which  seem  to 
have  deeply  interested  our  brother,  and  they  are  preserved 
with  considerable  fulness  in  his  diary.  Tery  instructive  and 
somewhat  humiliating,  too,  is  the  review  of  these  speculations 
now  after  twenty-four  years  have  passed  away.  How  impress- 
ively does  it  reiterate  the  wise  and  pithy  sentiment  of  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  on  this  subject,  that  "the  prophecies  were  not  given 
to  make  us  prophets,  but  the  predictions  were  written  down 
by  inspiration  of  the  Divine  Omniscience  that  when  they 
come  to  pass  we  may  see  and  believe."  There  is,  however, 
something  very  captivating  to  most  minds  in  the  startling  and 
bold  announcements  put  forth  b}^  writers  and  speakers  on  the 
prophecies  yet  to  be  fulfilled ;  and  when  they  bring,  as  the  ingen- 
ious and  enthusiastic  always  do,  very  plausible  and  apparently 
Scriptural  reasons  for  their  credence  that  some  events  of  ab- 
sorbing and  transcendent  interest  and  importance  are  on  the 
eve  of  fulfilment,  how  easily  may  they  attract  attention  and 
deepen  to  profoundest  deference  a  regard  for  their  startlmg 
vaticinations.  In  not  a  few  instances,  within  the  last  fifty 
or  sixty  years,  have  grave  and  learned  doctors,  as  well  as 
some  bold  empyrics  of  less  respectable  attainments,  ventured 


STUDIES   AND    LECTURES    ON    THE    niOPIlESIES,  291 

most  (logmaticullj  to  set  the  times  and  seasons  for  tlie  events 
which  are  to  be  hereafter.  And  how  mortifying  generally 
have  been  their  failures  I  It  is  easy  to  see  that  Mr.  Peck, 
from  about  this  period  for  several  of  the  following  years,  was 
an  enamored  student  of  the  prophecies.  He  prepared  and 
delivered  in  several  places  a  course  of  lectures  on  this  su))ject, 
and  his  study  of  what  pertains  to  it  doubtless  rendered  him 
more  familiar  with  prophetic  symbols  for  the  remainder  of 
his  life. 

Soon  as  the  meetings  of  the  association  were  concluded,  in 
company  with  some  others  who  had  been  in  attendance  with 
him,  Mr.  Peck  set  out  for  Kentucky.  They  traveled 
through  Yandalia,  and  stayed  over  the  Sabbath  in  Washing- 
ton, Ind.,  where  they  heard  a  political  speech  from  Robert 
Dale  Owen,  and  in  course  of  their  journey  met  with  a  large 
procession,  in  wagons  and  on  horseback,  going  to  a  Harrison 
political  gathering.  On  the  3d  of  June  they  reached  Louis- 
ville, and  found  many  brethren  already  assembled  from  the 
Eastern  as  well  as  from  the  Western  States. 

Dr.  Going  was  made  President  of  the  convention,  and  Dr. 
Lynd  preached  the  opening  sermon.  The  plan  of  a  more 
efficient  organization  coming  up,  a  committee  was  raised  to 
report  on  the  subject,  of  which  Mr.  Peck  w^as  chairm-an. 
After  much  deliberation  this  committee  agreed  to  recommend 
the  outlines  of  a  constitution,  to  be  published  and  referred 
for  consideration  to  the  conventions  and  general  associations 
of  the  Western  States,  and  hold  another  general  convention 
the  next  year,  to  act  on  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  consti- 
tution as  guided  by  the  wishes  of  those  appointing  them. 
Foreign  and  home  missions,  the  American  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  interest,  and  a  Western  historical  society,  suc- 
cessively engaged  the  attention  of  the  brethren  assembled. 
The  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  at  the  close  of  the 
services  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  second  Baptist  church,  at 
which  Drs.  Going,  Malcom,  and  others  officiated.  In  subse- 
quent conferences  Mr.  Peck  w^as  solicited  to  revise  the 
Social   Hymn   Book,  most   in   use   at  the  West  and    South, 


292  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

called  Dupuy's  Hymn  Book,  by  removing  the  doggerel  and 
inserting  good  hymns  in  their  places.  To  this  proposition  he 
acceded,  and  subsequently  spent  considerable  time  in  their 
revision. 

He  mentions  securing  a  valuable  collection  of  papers,  minutes, 
manuscripts,  and  various  materials  for  the  Western  Historical 
Society,  of  which  he  had  been  made  Secretary ;  and  on  Wednes- 
day, the  10th  of  June,  he  left  Louisville  on  his  return  home.  Spent 
the  Sabbath  in  Black's  settlement,  Indiana,  where  he  officiated,  and 
aided  in  setting  in  order  a  new  and  promising  Baptist  church,  or- 
daining deacons,  etc.  Tuesday  following  he  preached  by  request 
in  the  court-house  in  Salem,  Illinois,  and  two  days  after  reached 
his  home,  after  an  absence  of  four  weeks  and  one  day.  The  4th  of 
July  he  dehvered  an  oration  in  Belleville,  embracing  the  history  of 
the  conquest  of  Illinois  by  General  G.  E.  Clark  in  17T8. 

In  August  and  the  early  part  of  September  we  find  kim  engaged 
in  promoting  a  revival  at  Bethel  with  his  beloved  brethren,  the 
Lemens.  A  new  house  for  religious  worship  bad  been  completed 
there.  He  preached  at  its  dedication,  and  again  soon  after  a 
funeral  discourse  for  old  INEothcr  Lemen,  in  which  he  gave  at  much 
length  a  sketch  of  the  early  religious  efforts  in  Illinois,  and  of  the 
Lemen  family.  A  blessed  work  of  grace  commenced  and  pro- 
gressed with  much  power.  He  witnessed  the  baptism  of  nine  on 
one  occasion,  and  a  few  days  afterward  of  eight  more,  and  still  the 
work  went  on.  At  Silver  Creek,  also,  where  the  Southern  District 
Association  was  that  year  held,  the  church  had  erected  a  brick 
meeting-house,  so  far  completed  that  it  could  be  used,  and  after  the 
business  of  the  association  was  over,  religious  services  were  con- 
tinued with  happy  effect  for  several  days  and  seven  or  eight  were  here 
baptized.  Keturning  from  the  meeting,  several  cases  of  discipline 
of  a  rather  painful  character  demanded  attention  in  the  church  at 
Eock  Spring.  He  mentions  with  evident  feeling  that  three  of  the 
professed  converts  whom  he  baptized  there  turned  out  badly. 
"  They  had  been  examined  with  carefulness,  and  all  reasonable 
pains  taken  in  their  instruction,  and  yet  how  soon  have  they 
turned  away  to  a  course  of  profligacy  !"  He  adds,  "  I  learn  from 
this,  that  persons  who  have  been  trained  to  bad  habits,  and  who 
have  a  pecaliarly  vicious  mental  organization,  are  not  easily  re- 
claimed." 

In  October  he  attended  the  regular  session  of  the  Illinois  Baptist 


PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION    SERMON.  293 

Convention  at  Alton,  where  the  adjustment  of  the  difficulties 
growing  out  of  the  action  of  the  previous  year  was  happily  con- 
summated, as  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  The 
affairs  of  the  college  and  of  education  of  ministers  engrossed  con- 
siderable attention,  and  Avas  very  fully  considered.  Rev.  Mr. 
Hinton,  of  Chicago,  had  been  elected  President  of  the  college,  and 
measures  were  now  set  on  foot  to  Kquidate  its  debts,  and  provide 
for  the  support  of  its  faculty  and  its  general  efiBciency  hereafter. 
For  the  consummation  of  such  an  object  Mr.  Peck  was  induced  to 
pledge  a  Hberal  sum.  He  says  that  though  he  was  greatly  em- 
barrassed, he  felt  that  there  was  a  necessity  for  this  special  eS'ort 
and  sacrifice,  as  the  movement  now  made  was  regarded  as  a  turn- 
ing point.  On  hearing  a  Brother  Coles,  a  former  pupil  of  his  at 
Catskill,  speak  with  great  efficiency,  he  records  his  satisfaction  that 
the  disciple  is  much  beyond  his  master. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  this  year  he  was  also  en- 
gaged for  many  days  in  taking  the  United  States  census  of  St.  Clair 
county.  This  brought  him  into  minute,  personal  intercourse  with 
every  family,  and  furnished  some  amusement,  especially  among 
the  French  settlers  about  Cahokia,  as  well  as  many  instructive  in- 
cidents. It  was  while  engaged  in  this  service  that  he  mentions 
hearing  a  Mormon  preach  in  the  court-house,  and  try  to  prove  the 
truth  of  the  Mormon  book.  He  afterwards  held  considerable 
conversation  with  one  of  this  community,  whom  he  found  very 
wild  in  his  notions.  He  adds  this  general  remark:  "The  worst 
evil  from  Mormonism  is  its  influence  in  strengthening  the  scep- 
tical notions  of  unbelievers,  by  their  ludicrous  interpretations  of 
Scripture." 

Early  in  January,  1841,  we  find  him  in  Springfield,  near  the  seat 
of  government ;  and  while  detained  there  for  several  days  on  pubhc 
business,  the  following  items  are  found  in  his  journal. 

Saturday,  January  Id.  I  am  preparing  to  preach  to-morrow 
three  times;  in  the  afternoon  in  the  state-house  on  a  peculiar  and 
somewhat  hazardous  subject,  viz.  :  to  apply  some  of  the  principles 
and  methods  of  action  in  the  late  Presidential  contest,  to  moral  and. 
religious  uses. 

Lord's-day,  ?>d.  p.m.  Preached  my  projected  discourse  to  a  large 
congregation  in  the  state-house.  Text,  Luke  xvi.  8.  Had  toler- 
able liberty,  and  the  people  gave  solemn  attention.  I  inquired,  ]. 
Who  are  the  children  of  light  ?  2.  Who  are  the  children  of  this 
world?    3.  In  what  sense  are  the  children  of  this  world  the  wiser? 


294  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

The  principles  and  modes  of  action  during  the  late  Presidential 
contest  furnished  a  principle  illustrative  of  this  third  part. 

1.  Look  at  the  efforts  made  to  enlighten  the  public  mind.  Politi- 
cal discussions,  newspapers,  handbills,  pamphlets,  and  preaching  or 
proclaiming,  were  all  laid  under  contribution  for  this  end.  They 
took  the  right  way,  in  harmony  with  God's  appointed  method  in 
His  kingdom. 

2.  Notice  the  continuity  of  their  efforts,  meeting  after  meeting, 
at  all  seasons,  in  all  places — protracted  meetings  truly. 

3.  The  parties  selected  times,  places,  seasons,  and  instruments 
wisely.  Exchanged  their  orators  in  the  most  skillful  manner,  so 
as  to  excite  and  deepen  the  interest. 

4.  By  their  untiring  zeal  they  produced  a  great  excitement 
through  the  nation. 

5.  Their  i^ter severance  was  unintermitted  till  the  election  was  decided. 
In  all  the  above  respects  they  went  far  ahead  of  Christians  in 

their  endeavors  to  promote  Christ's  kingdom. 

II.  Showed  that  the  men  of  this  world  were  wdse  only  in  their 
generation.  How  indifferent  and  neglectful  they  al-e  to  the  things 
of  another  world.  For  that,  too,  they  had  an  election  to  make. 
Showed  how  they  reproved  themselves  in  their  inactivity  about 
eternal  things.  Applied  the  subject  also  to  professors,  and  offered 
reproof  for  their  supineness  and  inactivity. 

On  the  way  as  he  was  returning  home,  at  Bunker  Hill,  in  the 
southern  part  of  Macoupen  county,  he  preached  at  the  constitu- 
tion of  a  new  Baptist  church.  In  his  own  immediate  neighbor- 
hood, in  the  churches  of  which  he  was  pastor,  he  was  indefatigable 
in  his  efforts  to  promote  a  genuine  revival,  and  with  some  success, 
as  the  instances  of  baptism  bore  witness — seventeen  on  one 
occasion,  March  6th.  About  this  time  also,  the  St.  Louis  church 
having  become  destitute  by  the  resignation  of  their  late  pastor, 
Eev.  Dr.  Pattison,  he  was  inducexl  to  promise  to  take  the  oversight 
of  them,  and  supply  their  pulpit  the  second  Sabbath  in  each  month 
at  least.  Himself  and  Father  Rogers  soon  held  a  protracted 
meeting  there,  with  some  happy  effects.  During  all  this  period  he 
continued  an  extensive  correspondence,  wrote  editorials  for  the 
Banner  and  Pioneer,  and  made  himself  widely  useful  by  his  pen 
in  other  enterprises  for  the  pubhc  good. 

In  April,  only  a  month  after  his  accession  to  power, 
President  Harrison  died,  the  first  instnr.'^e  of  the  death  of  an 
incumbent  of  his  office  since  the  organization  of  our  national 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   HARRISON.  295 

government.  The  sensation  produced  by  this  event  was 
deep  and  universal,  and  he  endeavored,  in  all  the  churches 
where  he  officiated,  to  improve  it  in  the  most  efficient  and 
salutary  manner.  In  St.  Louis  especially,  the  municipal 
authorities  sef  apart  a  day  for  public  solemnities,  on  account 
of  this  national  bereavement.  The  stores  and  offices  were 
closed ;  and  a  vast  civic  procession,  consisting  of  all  the 
various  associations,  religious,  mechanic,  literary,  military, 
masonic,  with  a  large  concourse  of  citizens,  marched  through 
the  streets,  while  bells  were  tolling,  and  minute  guns  were 
firing.  At  three  o'clock  all  the  churches  were  generally 
opened.  Mr.  Peck  officiated  in  the  Baptist  church,  delivering 
a  discourse  from  Psalm  xc.  3-12  to  a  crowded  and  very 
solemn  assembly. 

Early  in  May  he  was  enabled  to  sell,  though  at  very  con- 
siderable sacrifice,  lots  of  land  which  he  owned  in  Upper 
Alton,  and  thus  pay  off  his  most  pressing  debts.  He  re- 
garded this  as  a  most  welcome  Providential  relief,  and  records 
his  gratitude  for  this  favor  at  a  time  of  great  scarcity  of 
money,  and  when  his  pecuniary  involvements  were  most 
embarrassing. 

From  the  2d  to  the  5th  of  June  he  was  on  board  the 
steamer  Ion,  on  his  way  from  St.  Louis  to  Louisville  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  the  convention  of  Western  Baptists,  which 
had  been  provided  for  in  the  arrangements  of  the  preceding 
year.  From  the  9th  to  the  14th  of  the  month  this  meeting 
continued  its  sessions,  eviTicing  at  times  considerable  want  of 
harmony  from  the  earnest  desires  evinced  on  the  part  of  some 
to  sunder  the  ties  between  Western  and  Eastern  Baptists  m 
their  benevolent  organizations.  After  much  discussion  and 
the  grave  consideration  of  reports  submitted  on  various  topics, 
the  result  was  that  a  Western  Baptist  publication  and  Sunday- 
school  society  was  formed  in  strict  co-operation  with  that  in 
Philadelphia.  Mr.  Peck  was  mainly  instrumental  in  securing 
this  result,  and  his  journal  contains  abundant  evidence  that 
he  introduced  and  carried  through  this  proposition,  not  be- 
cause he  deemed  it  really  the  svisest  and  best  course,  but 


296  MEMOIR   OT   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

because  he  faund  it  was  the  only  way  in  which  a  degree  of 
harmony  and  co-operation  could  be  secured,  and  the  utter 
breaking  off  of  a  portion  of  the  West  from  the  East  could  be 
prevented.  Having  thus  thrown  himself  into  the  threatened 
breach  for  the  purpose  of  closing  it,  many  of  the  better  and 
more  influential  of  the  brethren  immediately  turned  their 
eyes  to  him  as  the  needed  executive  functionary  of  the  new 
society.  Accordingly  its  general  agency  was  tendered  to 
him  by  the  Board  elected  for  the  purpose  of  setting  it  in 
operation,  and  before  he  left  Louisville  he  had  agreed  to  take 
into  serious  consideration  the  question  of  dropping  his  other 
engagements  and  giving  himself  chiefly  to  this  service.  His 
diar}^  contains  abundant  evidence  of  the  deep  concern  with 
which  this  proposal  was  weighed  by  him.  Two  principal 
objections  seem  to  have  had  much  influence  with  him.  He 
could  not  but  feel  sad  in  view  of  turning  away  from  the  field 
and  the  labors  which  for  so  many  years  had  engrossed  him, 
where,  though  he  had  many  trials  and  impediments,  he  also 
had  enjoyed  encouraging  success,  and  now  began  to  see  the 
fruit  of  his  manifold  sacrifices  and  efforts  in  the  wider  and 
more  inviting  facilities  opening  before  him  for  doing  good 
through  these  instrumentalities — the  churches,  the  college, 
and  the  convention,  and  education  societies,  which  he  had 
been  mainly  instrumental  in  originating.  But  the  chief  diffi- 
culty in  accepting  the  appointment  to  the  new  post  was  his 
health,  and  the  fear  that  he  should  soon  break  down  in  at- 
tempting so  much  travel  as  would  be  indispensable.  True, 
he  would  be  able  to  go  more  by  comfortable  public  convey- 
ances than  he  had  done  hitherto,  yet  the  whole  b^.siness  would 
be  of  the  most  laborious  description.  In  view  of  all  these 
difficulties,  and  with  the  urgent  importunity  of  his  brethren 
whom  he  had  just  met  that  he  would  not  decline,  he  resolved 
on  going  home  that  he  "  would  take  time  to  weigh  the  subject 
well,  and  would  also  consult  our  leading  brethren,  both  East 
and  West,  and  endeavor  finally  to  decide  as  may  appear  best 
for  all  concerned." 

The  surprising  versatility  of  his  pen  is  manifested  by  his 


DRAMATIC   COMPOSITION.  29t 

writing  a  dramatic  exercise  about  this  time,  called  "  Te- 
cumthe,"  which  was  elaborated  by  him  with  considerable 
care,  and  wa,s  actually  presented  in  a  college  exhibition  at 
Alton  in  July  of  this  year.*  The  composition  required  very 
considerable  knowledge  of  the  astute  Indian  character,  as 
well  as  that  of  the  other  personages  introduced — the  scheming 
British  agent,  and  his  subordinate,  and  the  exposed  pioneer 
settlers  whose  safety  was  so  deeply  involved  in  the  questions 
then  at  issue.  In  all  these  respects  the  drama  was  a  decided 
success,  though  from  want  of  more  experience  in  this  kind  of 
writing,  it  lacked  the  liveliness,  and  vivacious,  life-like  interest 
so  indispensable  to  successful  exhibitions  on  the  stage.  The 
marvel  certainly  is  that  with  all  his  multifarious  engagements, 
preaching  every  Sabbath  and  frequently  in  the  week,  waiting 
for  some  half  a  dozen  periodicals — some  of  his  articles  very 
elaborate  and  extensive,  such,  for  instance,  as  his  contributions 
about  this  time  to  the  American  Quarterly  Register  of  Boston 
on  the  history  and  statistics  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in 
each  of  the  Western  States — with  many  other  cares  and 
labors,  domestic  and  pastoral,  that  he  could  have  found 
time  to  contribute  to  the  drama  at  all.  His  facility  of  com- 
position, and  the  readiness  with  which  he  could  turn  from 
one  thing  to  another  so  widely  dissimilar,  was  truly  won- 
derful. 

On  the  24th  of  September  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Western  Publication  Society,  Louisville,  accepting  the  gen- 
oral  agency.  This  decisive  step  involves  so  much  of  responsi- 
bility that  it  seems  but  just  to  him  to  give  the  reasons  he 
assigned  at  the  time  for  taking  it.     He  says  : 

After  a  pretty  extensive  correspondence  East,  West,  North  and 
South,  I  have  arrived  at  this  conclusion :  that  unless  I  do  take 
hold  of  the  general  agency  of  this  organization,  the  American 
Ka])tist  Publication  Society  will  do  very  little.     The  'field  in  the 


^  Mr.  Peck  was  present  at  the  exhibition,  and  says  it  was  well 
spoken,  though  it  must  have  suffered  much  from  )ack  of  appro- 
priate costumes  and  scenery  on  which  the  real  drama,  as  iistjnct 
from  the  mere  dialogue,  so  much  depends. 


298  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    M.   PLCK. 

West  and  South  is  the  main  place  of  operation,  because  its  Avants 
are  here  more  directly  felt  and  its  necessity  appreciated.  Here, 
also,  a  very  large  part  of  the- labor  has  to  be  performed.  Our 
Western  society  will  do  nothing  efficiently  unless  I  take  hold  of  it. 
Moreover,  all  to  whom  I  have  written,  and  who  have  answered  my 
inquiries,  say  in  substance  that  I  am  the  man,  and  ought  to  engage 
in  this  work.  The  condition  of  the  denomination  in  the  West  and 
South  now  calls  for  the  free  and  extensive  circulation  of  religious 
books.  Various  indications  of  Providence  in  opening  my  way  and 
removing  diSiculties  seem  to  point  out  the  pathway  of  duty  in  this 
direction.  "Whether  I  can  endure  the  exposure  and  fatigue  neces- 
sarily involved,  and  sustain  health,  is  to  be  tested  by  experience. 
My  hopes  are  that  by  steamboat  and  stage  traveling,  by  spending 
the  winters  South,  and  the  summera  North,  and  having  comfortable 
houses  to  lodge  in,  I  may  keep  up  a  few  years  longer.  This  cer- 
tainly is  the  greatest  and  most  responsible  business  I  have  ever 
undertaken.  May  the  Good  One  direct  and  keep  me,  and  allow  me 
to  fill  up  the  balance  of  my  life  with  usefulness. 

Immediately  he  tendered  his  resignation  as  pastor  of  the 
churches  he  had  served,  and  was  happily  instrumental  in 
leading  some  of  them  to  the  choice  of  his  successor. 

Early  in  October  he  attended  the  Illinois  Baptist  conven- 
tion, meeting  that  year  at  Payson.  He  was  chosen  President, 
and  every  honor  which  affection  and  fraternal  confidence  and 
gratitude  prompted  was  tendered  him.  He.  preached  during 
the  session,  and  took  occasion  to  contrast  the  present  flourish- 
ing aspects  of  their  affairs  with  what  he  had  witnessed  on 
the  same  field  in  former  years.  Especially  did  ho  strive — • 
and  successfully  too — to  enlist  them  in  the  new  enterprise  in 
which  he  was  engaging.  Many  life-memberships  were  sub- 
cribed,  and  the  object  was  embraced  cordially,  with  the  pros- 
pect that  it  would  be  prosecuted  with  vigor.  About  the  same 
time  he  mentions  having  written  to  the  general  associations 
of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  and  the  convention  of  Indiana  to 
enlist  them  in  this  enterprise. 

Returning  from  the  convention  he  spent  some  few  days  in  Quincy 
and  its  neighborhood,  visiting  with  special  interest  a  number  of  mis- 
sion institutes,  or  manual-labor  schools,  there  estabhshed  by  Rev. 


AGENT    OF    WESTERN    PUBLICATION    SOCIETY.  299 

])avid  Nelson,  lie  found  about  sixty  students,  male  and  female,  in, 
the  two  which  he  examined.  The  men  were  designed  for  mission- 
aries, and  many  of  them  sustained  themselves  or  nearly  so  by  work. 
He  could  not  but  condemn  the  fanaticism  which  he  thought  preva- 
lent, while  at  the  same  time  he  found  much  to  commend.  He 
says :  "  Nearly  every  species  of  ultraism  springs  up  here  as  from 
a  hotbed.  The  practice  of  what  is  called /?'ee  discussion  keeps  the 
students  in  a  continual  excitement  which  forbids  calm  and  deliber- 
ate investigation,  and  prevents  the  formation  of  a  sound  mind." 
He  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a  few  Baptist  students  among  them 
who  had  apparently  been  injured  in  this  way. 

AVith  different  feelings  he  visited  his  old  friend,  Governor  Carlin, 
and  held  with  him  a  long  and  interesting  conversation  on  personal 
religion.  The  Governor  manifested  much  devotedness  and  deep 
feeling,  declaring,  among  other  things,  that  no  man  can  be  a  par- 
tisan politician  and  maintain  a  Christian  character. 

On  his  way  to  Kentucky  he  aided  in  the  ordination  of  a  worthy 
colored  brother,  Anderson,  belonging  to  the  African  Baptist  church 
in  St.  Louia,  and  preached  the  sermon,  and  remarks  of  this  brother 
that  he  passed  a  very  good  examination.  It  was  near  the  middle 
of  November  before  he  reached  Louisville,  and  took  his  head-quar- 
ters there  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  with  the  utmost  vigor  the 
plans  of  the  new  society.  For  a  while  he  lodged,  by  his  own  desire 
and  preference,  in  the  editorial  office  of  the  Banner  and  Pioneer, 
of  which  paper  he  continued  to  be  a  kind  of  assistant-editor.  He 
also  preached  very  often  both  on  the  Sabbaths  and  on  week  even- 
ings in  the  Baptist  churches  in  Louisville.  Soon  as  arrangement? 
for  this  purpose  could  be  completed,  he  visited  Cincinnati  and 
Covington  in  furtherance  of  his  agency ;  and  on  returning,  after 
spending  a  few  days  more  in  Louisville,  putting  in  order  and  sup- 
plying as  well  as  he  could  the  things  which  were  wanting,  he  set 
forth  on  a  tour  through  the  Southwest.  In  the  Green  river  country 
he  lingered  some  days,  laboring  for  the  diffusion  of  information  on 
his  agency,  and  securing  the  first  fruits  of  the  bounty  of  both 
churches  and  individuals.  By  the  close  of  the  year  he  had  reached 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  which  he  now  visited  for  the  first  time,  and 
found  a  most  cordial  welcome  at  the  City  Hotel,  then  kept  by  the 
excellent  and  lamented  Colonel  Marshall 


300  MEMOIR   OF  JOHN   M.  PECK. 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 

Slave  Sale — Visit  to  New  Orleans  and  Mississippi,  and  again  goes  to 
Eastern  Slates. 

The  first  half  of  1842  was  maeea  crowded  with  events  of 
stirring  and,  some  of  them,  permanent  interest  in  the  life  of 
this  active  man.  Some  of  the  more  important  of  them  will 
be  gleaned  from  his  journals  and  letters,  so  as  to  furnish  the 
outlines  of  his  eventful  history.  In  Nashville,  on  New- 
Year's  day,  the  following  item  occurs  : 

To-day  I  attended  for  a  few  moments  a  sale  in  the  market- 
place. A  negro  boy  was  sold,  who  appeared  about  twelve  years 
old.  He  stood  by  the  auctioneer  on  the  market-bench,  with  his 
hat  off,  crying  and  sobbing,  his  countenance  a  picture  of  woe.  I 
know  not  the  circumstances  ;  but  it  was  the  first  human  being  I 
ever  saw  set  up  for  sale,  and  it  filled  me  with  indescribable  emotions. 
Slavery  in  Tennessee  is  certainly  not  as  oppressive,  inhuman  and 
depressing,  as  the  state  of  the  poorer  classes  of  society  in  England, 
Ireland,  and  many  parts  of  Continental  Europe ;  yet  slavery  in  its 
best  state  is  a  violation  of  man's  nature  and  of  the  Christian  law  of 
love.  I  mean  as  a  state  or  condition  of  society  ;  for  doubtless  there 
are  individual  cases  where  the  slaves  are  trul^'  better  off  than  if 
they  were  set  free,  and  remained  in  this  country. 

For  the  next  three  weeks  he  remained  in  Nashville,  or  its  imme 
diate  vicinity,  his  health  some  of  the  time  rather  imperfect,  but  he 
was  able  to  preach,  or  otherwise  address  churches  and  congrega- 
tions very  frequently,  averaging  nearly  one  sermon  or  address 
each  day,  promotive  of  the  revival  of  religion  or  of  his  benevolent 
object.  He  was  also  a  laborious  writer,  sending  forth  from  his 
chamber  at  the  hotel  almost  every  day,  letters,  circulars,  reports, 
or  communications  for  the  press,  enough  to  fill  up  the  entire  time 
of  an  ordinary  man.  He  then  made  an  excursion  into  Wilson 
county,  visiting  as  many  churches  and  prominent  individuals  as 
possible,  to  enlist  their  convictions,  and  call  forth  their  contribu- 
tions for  the  Publication  Society.  On  his  return,  February  1st, 
he  called  on  General  Jackson  at  the  Hermitage,  and  was  welcomed 


VISIl    TO    TENNESSEE    AND    MISSISSIPPI.  301 

with  warm  favor  and  interest  by  this  distinguished  man.  The 
General  was  in  feeble  health,  warm  and  excited  on  poUtical  subjects, 
but  evincing  a  calm,  intelligent,  and  considerate  concern  for  tho 
rciligious  welfare  of  himself  and  his  countrymen,  and  hence  enter- 
ing with  cordiality  into  the  object  of  Mr.  Peck's  mission  among 
the  churches,  and  at  the  close  of  the  interview  wishing  him  God- 
»peed.  With  emphasis  and  iteration  he  thanked  his  visitor  for 
calling  on  him,  and  on  parting  said,  "The  Lord  go  with  you." 

The  legislature  of  Tennessee  was  in  session  while  he  was  in  Nash- 
ville,  and  occasionally  he  looked  in  upon  their  deliberations  With 
several  of  the  members,  too,  he  formed  an  interesting  acquaintance. 
This  body  adjourned  just  about  the  time  he  was  leaving  the  State, 
the  7th  of  February,  and  several  whom  he  names  were  his  travel- 
ing companions  on  board  the  steamer  on  which  he  embarked  on 
his  way  to  New  Orleans.  He  had  opportunity  further  to  cultivate 
their  acquaintance  as  his  fellow-passengers ;  and  also  as  the 
steamer  touched  and  sometnnes  laid  by  for  several  hours,  he 
landed  at  Clarksville,  and  made  a  speech  at  a  temperance  meeting ; 
at  Ashportin  West  Tennessee,  and  again  at  Yicksburg  in  Mississippi. 
Below  this  point  Mr.  Peck  became  greatly  interested  in  the  great 
river,  its  "  coasts,"  as  the  high  levee  banks  are  here  called ;  in  the 
milder  climate  and  earlier  foliage  and  bloom  of  the  trees,  which,  in 
his  rapid  passage  to  the  south  at  that  season  of  the  year,  very  strik- 
ingly impressed  him.  The  plantations  lining  the  river  on  both  sides 
hke  a  continued  village,  with  occasionally  a  Catholic  church  lifting 
its  spire  and  cross,  were  all  features  of  novel  interest  to  him. 

The  14th  of  February  he,  for  the  first  time,  set  foot  in  New 
Orleans.  He  spent  now  but  two  or  three  days  in  the  city,  finding 
the  Baptist  cause  there  lamentably  low,  and  that  very  little  could 
be  done  in  furtherance  of  the  object  he  was  laboring  to  promote. 
He  called  upon  the. Baptist  minister  who  was  then  officiating  there, 
and  upon  Cornelius  Paulding,  an  eccentric  and  wealthy  Baptist 
professor,  of  whose  peculiarities  he  seems  to  have  formed  a  toler- 
ably correct  estimate. 

Returning  up  the  river,  the  steamer  in  which  he  was  a  passenger 
had  a  race  with  a  competitor,  and  a  collision  too,  but  without  much 
injury  except  the  severe  fright  of  the  lady  passengers.  He  landed 
at  Port  Hudson  and  took  the  railroad  to  Clinton,  La.,  where,  and 
in  the  vicinity,  he  spent  the  next  two  weeks,  preaching,  lecturing, 
and  conferring  with  influential  friends,  several  of  whom  became 
warmly  interested  in  his  object.  He  preached  to  whites  and  to 
slaves,  visited  some  of  the  latter  in  their  quarters,  especially  the 
26 


302  MEMUlR    OF    JOHN    M.   PECK. 

sick,  attended  some  funerals  among  them,  and  evinced  an  earnest 
desire  to  make  himself  as  thoroughly  acquainted  with  plantation 
affairs  as  possible. 

The  masters  and  proprietors  were  his  guides,  and  he,  as 
their  privileged  guest,  saw  just  as  much  and  through  such 
a  medium  as  they  desired.  He  makes  no  comments  at  the 
time  ;  and  it  is  not  strange  that  his  subsequent  recollections 
are  largely  tinged  with  the  favorable  aspect  in  which  the 
peculiar  institution  was  presented  to  his  notice. 

Returning  to  the  river,  he  found  passage,  after  some  delay,  to 
Yicksburg,  and  thence  by  railroad  to  Jackson,  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment of  Mississippi,  Here,  and  in  several  Baptist  churches  in  the 
vicinity,  he  spent  some  days  profitably  and  wisely.  Brethren  of 
intelligence  and  liberality  were  found,  who  appreciated  the  noble 
object  he  was  solicting  for,  and  generously  aided  his  enterprise. 
The  names  of  Lea,  Granbury,  Denson,  Balfour,  Whitfield,  and  ex- 
Governor  Runnells,  with  others,  appear  in  his  journal  as  those 
whose  sy^mpathies  and  co-operation  he  had  secured.  Others  in 
Yicksburg  of  the  same  character  were  also  mentioned :  such  as 
Ranney,  Sparkes,  and  Bond,  whom  he  saw  and  loved  for  the  truth's 
sake,  both  as  he  went  and  returned.  It  was  also  agreed  to  raise 
two  hundred  dollars  to  estabhsh  a  depository  of  the  books  and 
tracts  of  the  Publication  Society  in  Jackson  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  State  of  Mississippi. 

On  the  evening  of  the  21st  of  March  he  got  on  board  a  steamer 
for  St.  Louis,  and  after  a  rapid  and  pleasant  passage  reached  that 
city  on  the  25th.  He^e  he  rejoiced  to  find  the  Baptist  cause  flour- 
ishing, and  the  following  evening  he  reached  his  home  at  Rock 
Spring,  finding  his  family  well  and  prospering  after  an  absence  on 
his  part  of  three  and  a  half  months.  He  fou^d  to  his  great  joy 
that  the  work  of  the  Lord  had  cheeringly  progressed  in  the 
churches  which  he  used  to  serve.  In  the  Belleville  church  thirty 
had  been  hopefully  converted,  and  twenty  of  them  baptized.  Here 
and  at  Rock  Spring  and  at  Bethel  with  his  beloved  brethren,  the 
Lumens,  he  spent  a  few  days  most  delightfully  and  profitably,  and 
seemed  much  refreshed  by  the  pious  and  fraternal  sympathy  which 
was  manifested  towards  him,  and  the  object  to  which  he  was  now 
devoting  his  labors.  At  Upper  and  Lower  Alton  also  he  met  with 
the  like  favor ;  and  having  adjusted  his  most  important  business, 
domestic  and  public,  on  the  9tli  of  April,  he  set  forth  for  another 
long  Eastern  tour.     Spent  a  Sabbath  in  St.  Louis,  preaching  for 


CHARLES   DICKENS — AGAIN    VISITS   THE   EAST.  303 

lihe  white  Baptist  cliurcli  in  the  morning,  for  the  colored  in  the 
afternoon  (recounting  with  much  tender  feeUng  on  both  sides  the 
way  the  Lord  had  led  them  for  more  than  twenty  years),  and  in 
the  evening  he  officiated  in  the  second  Presbyterian  church,  whose 
pastor  was  absent,  and  he  mentions  incidentally  that  the  first  and 
second  Presbyterian  churches — the  New  and  Old  school — hke  the 
Jews  and  Samaritans  of  old,  have  no  rehgious  intercourse  with 
each  other,  though  both  are  clamorous  for  "  open  communion." 

The  following  morning  he  took  passage  by  steamer  for  Pittsburg, 
pairing  only  twelve  dollars  for  the  trip — one  cent  per  mile,  with 
excellent  fare.  The  cheapest  traveling,  he  says,  which  he  had  ever 
known.  The  same  day,  before  the  boat  left,  he  and  Rev.  Mr.  Hinton 
called  on  Charles  Dickens,  then  in  kSt.  Louis,  on  his  tour  through 
the  United  States.  He  appeared  to  be  a  remarkably  good-natured, 
amiable,  benevolent  man,  very  much  like  the  spirit  of  his  stories. 
He  stated  that  he  had  been  educated  by  a  Baptist  clergyman.  Mr. 
Peck  afterward  sent  liim  two  of  his  books,  "  Guide  for  Emigrants," 
and  "Traveler's  Directory."  The  trip,  per  steamer,  seems  to  have 
been  unusually  pleasant,  affording  him  a  few  hours  time  for  calls  on 
hi3  brethren  both  at  Louisville  and  at  Cincinnati,  which  he  gladly 
embraced.  Reached  Pittsburg  on  the  19th,  and  found  a  good 
hotel  near  the  landing,  at  which  for  dinner,  supper,  room  with  fire, 
and  attendance,  the  charge  was  only  seventy-five  cents.  Hence  to 
Philadelphia,  by  canal  and  railroad,  stopping  over  the  Sabbath  in 
Harrisburg,  where  he  preached  twice,  and  Monday  afternoon  reached 
Philadelphia.  The  following  day  he  went  to  New  York,  where  the 
Baptist  anniversaries  were  then  commencing.  During  the  meeting 
he  mentions  having  made  a  long  address^before  the  Publication 
Society,  setting  forth  its  claims  on  ministers  and  churches,  which 
was  listened  to  with  interest,  and  produced,  as  he  thought,  a  good 
effect.  He  also  alludes  to  his  having  served  on  a  committee  in 
reference  to  Indian  missions,  and  particularly  the  relations  of  Rev. 
Isaac  McCoy  to  the  Board,  which  involved  matters  which  were  not 
a  little  perplexing.  This  meeting  with  so  many  of  the  loved 
associates  of  former  years  was  not  a  small  item  in  the  gratification 
which  he  now  experienced.  Particularly  one  evening  which  he 
spent  with  Rev.  A.  Perkins,  then  a  pastor  in  New  York  city,  .in 
company  with  Rev.  Lewis  Leonard,  he  says,  "  Much  of  the  old 
times  when  we  three  were  associated  in  Dutchess  county  in  1814- 
15  was  vividly  revived  in  our  recollection."  The  various  meetmgs, 
both  denominational  and  general,  which  he  attended  seem  to  have 
afi'orded  him  considerable  satisfaction,  and  early  in  May  he  left 


304  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.   I'ECK. 

New  York  on  his  return  to  Philadelphia,  stopping  as  usual  a  night 
in  Burlington  with  his  old  and  dear  friend,  J.  E.  Welch,  and  family. 
He  preached  here  also  in  behalf  of  his  object,  and  endeavored  to 
awaken  the  liberaUty  of  the  church  to  make  their  pastor  a  life- 
mcinber  of  the  Publication  Society.  The  next  day  he  met  the 
Lourd  of  this  society  in  Philadelphia,-and  by  their  request  gave  them, 
at  full  length,  his  impressions  of  what  ought  to  be  done  by  them,  and 
how  to  do  it.  His  whole  plan  laid  before  them  was  looked  into  by 
a  special  committee  and  subsequently  adopted.  The  following  is 
his  record  of  what  he  found,  and  what  he  recommended : 

"  I  find  that  the  brethren  in  Philadelphia  have  done  but  little  com- 
paratively in  this  cause.  There  has  not  been  quite  enough  of  har- 
mony and  mutual  concert.  Petty  jealousies  and  rivalships  about 
officers  and  Httle  matters  have  retarded  the  business.  Yet,  with 
sufficient  effort  and  patient  perseverance,  the  society  can  be  made 
to  live.  I  suggested  a  delegation  to  Boston  to  enter  into  arrange- 
ments with  the  New  England  Sunday-school  Union  to  raise  a  sum 
of  two  thousand  dollars  to  circulate  Sunday-school  books  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  through  the  Publication  Society  and  its 
agency.  Another  suggestion  was  to  negotiate  with  the  Baptist 
Library  and  the  Baptist  Memorial  to  secure  a  co-operation  with 
those  who  are  interested  in  those  publications."  A  delegation  to 
New  England,  of  which  he  w^as  one,  was  accordingly  appointed. 

On  his  way  East  he  spent  a  Lord's-day  in  New  York,  and  came 
in  contact  with  the  celebrated  Miller  (who  gave  name  to  the 
Millerites,  or  Adventists),  and  heard  him  deliver  one  of  his  lectures. 
"He  believes  that  Jesus  Christ  is  to  descend  from  heaven,  and 
reign  personally  on  t^us  earth,  and  that  the  saints  are  to  be  raised 
and  the  judgment  to  set  in  1843 — next  year.  This  calculation  he 
bases  upon  his  interpretation  of  the  prophetical  period  of  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  days.  This  morning  his  lecture 
was  concerning  the  t'«'0  witnesses  (Rev.  xi.  3, 4),  which  he  supposes, 
and  with  much  ingenuity  seemed  to  prove,  were  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testament,  the  Word  of  God.  There  is  plausibility  in  this  as 
the  right  interpretation.  Much  of  his  discourse  was  solemn  and 
impressive.  He  is  undoubtedly  sincere  ;  but  like  other  men  whose 
whole  physical  and  mental  system  has  become  excited,  he  is  very 
sensitive,  very  positive,  and  will  not  bear  to  be  contradicted  or 
argued  against.  Evidently  to  my  mind  there  is  a  degree  of  mono- 
mania about  him,  as  there  is  about  every  one  who  dwells  so  in- 
tensely and  exclusively  on  one  idea.     I  introduced  myself,  and  con* 


ANNlVEKsAiULa   AT    NEW    YORK   AND    BOSTON.  305 

versed  with  liim  a  short  time.  He  and  his  associate  Adventists  are 
now  holding  a  series  of  meetings  in  this  city." 

lie  preached  in  two  Baptist  churches  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the 
following  week  gave  himself  up  to  attending  the  general  anni- 
versaries. The  Old  or  Garrison  AboHtionists,  he  thought  were 
monomaniacs ;  for  if  their  principles  were  fully  carried  out,  all  gov- 
ernment, authority,  and  rule,  would  be  broken  up.  The  Sunday- 
school  anniversary  was  delightful.  The  American  Tract  Society 
gave  him  an  opportunity  to  plead  fifteen  minutes  for  the  groat 
West.  Here  also  he  heard  and  was  introduced  to  Mar  Yohannan, 
IJishop  of  the  Nestorians  in  Persia,  whose  address  in  Syriac  was 
translated  to  the  audience  by  the  Rey.  J.  Perkins,  who  also  gave  many 
interesting  facts  in  relation  to  the  Nestorians.  The  following  day 
at  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  Mar  Yohaiman 
appeared  again,  presenting  a  Syriac  New  Testament  written  on 
parchment  more  than  six  hundred  years  old.  In  like  manner  he 
witnessed  with  interest  the  exhibition  of  the  deaf  mutes  and  tem- 
perance and  colonization  meetings.  In  a  more  private  way  he 
visited  the  rooms  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  and  the  Bap- 
tist Home  ^lission  Societies,  conferring  with  their  executive  officers, 
and  contriving  ways  and  means  for  their  enlarged  usefulness  and 
efficiency.  Another  Sabbath  he  spent  in  Brooklyn,  pleading  his 
cause  before  several  churches  there. 

In  Boston,  whitlier  he  went  the  next  week,  he  was  welcomed  by 
his  old  friend,  Dr.  Shurtleff,  the  generous  patron  of  the  college  at 
Alton,  111.,  and  for  two  or  three  days  gave  himself  up  to  attending 
on  an  anti-slavery  Baptist  convention,  against  many  of  whose  doings 
and  speeches  he  in  vain  remonstrated.  Ma^'^  21st  he  attended  a 
inceting  of  the  Board  of  the  New  England  Sunday-school  Union, 
and  laid  before  the  brethren  the  project  of  aiding  by  a  special  fund 
our  Western  operations.  The  plan  was  referred  to  a  special  com- 
mittee. 

On  Lord's-day,  after  officiating  in  one  of  the  Baptist  churches, 
he  had  an  appointment  in  another  (Baldwin  Place),  and  had  entered 
the  pulpit  for  its  fulfiilment,  when  he  was  suddenly  seized  with  a 
severe  spasm,  which  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  preach.  By 
timely  and  vigorous  treatment  he  soon  recovered.  Next  day  he 
met  again  the  Board  of  the  New  England  Sunday-school  Union, 
who  declmed  his  overture,  on  the  ground  that  they  could  not  get 
the  requisite  funds.  Though  this  was  a  grievous  disappointment 
to  him,  yet  it  is  pleasant  to  notice  the  eciuanimity  of  spirit  Avith 
whi':h  he  received  the  ayjKunccment,  and  th(    undiminished  love 


306  MEMOIK    OF    JOHN    M.  rECIv. 

with  which  he  still  clung  to  his  brethren  and  labored  and  coun- 
seled with  them  for  the  promotion  of  their  objects,  while  they 
declined  co-operating  to  secure  his.  Particularly  it  may  be  no- 
ticed that  he  was  invited  to  address  the  anniversary  audience 
of  the  New  England  Sunday-school  Union,  and  there  urged  that 
they  needed  a  fund  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  to  be  raised  and  used 
in  New  England  for  issuing  books,  which  were  now  very  necessary 
in  all  parts  of  our  country.  In  hke  manner  he  addressed  the  anni- 
versary meeting  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Education  Society,  and 
spoke  on  their  theme,  particularly  with  reference  to  the  mighty 
West,  giving  facts  in  regard  to  their  ministerial  education,  the 
states  of  colleges  and  schools,  all  of  which  was  listened  to  with 
much  interest.  At  the  ministerial  tea-party  in  the  lecture-room 
of  one  of  the  churches,  he  gave  by  request  some  account  of  two 
of  the  deceased  pioneers  of  the  AYest — Elder  John  Clarke  and 
J.  L.  Holman. 

One  evening  he  went  as  a  listener  to  the  advent-meeting,  and 
heard  one  of  their  lectures,  on  which  he  makes  this  comment :  "A 
v.nart  was  used  containing  a  representation  of  the  prophetic  sym- 
bols, in  the  Book  of  Daniel,  in  painting.  Most  of  what  the  lecturer 
said  in  his  definitions  was  correct,  but  the  application  was  wholly 
.ncorrect.  The  grand  error  of  the  Miller  system  is,  that  it  employs, 
symbolical  language  correctly  as  to  past  prophecy,  and  then  inter- 
prets the  symbols  which  relate  to  the  conquests  of  Christ  and  the 
setting  up  of  his  Kingdom  literally.  It  is  this  confusion  of  the 
syvtholical  and  the  literal  which  produces  the  wrong  and  mislead- 
ing results." 

His  great  effort  for  the  week,  however,  was  the  closing  address 
befVre  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Convention — the  successor  of 
the  old  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society,  under  whose  commis- 
sion he  had  so  many  years  labored.  His  principal  design  was  to 
show  the  effect  of  missionary  operations  on  the  Western  valley  for 
stvtiiteen  years  jiast.  as  folloivs: 

1.  In  giving  great  encouragement  to  missionary  friends  there. 

2.  Ih  calling  out  ministers  from  the  influence  of  the  world,  en- 
abling them  to  acquire  correct  views  and  habits,  and  by  employing, 
to  enlarge  their  talents. 

3.  In  raising  up,  and  sustaining,  while  feeble,  churches  in  the 
iraporiant  towns  and  cities  of  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Marietta,  and 
Colunihus,  in  Ohio;  Covington,  Louisville,  and  other  places,  in 
Kentucky;  Nashville,  in  Tennessee;  St.  Louis,  Alton,  Springfield, 
I  hicago,  Detroit,  in  the  farther  West  and  Northv.-est. 


ADDRESS   IN    BOSTON — HUDSON    RIVER   ASSOCIATION.       307 

4.  In  waking  up  tke  cliurches  and  people  throughout  the  whole 
valley,  to  provide  for,  and  sustain  their  own  ministry. 

5.  In  raising  up  ministers,  and  sustaining  all  other  benevolent 
measures. 

6.  In  producing  organization  and  system  in  benevolent  opera- 
tions generally. 

7.  In  promoting  revivals  extensively,  and  numerous  conversions, 
so  that  Baptists  had  doubled  in  the  "West  within  eight  years. 

8.  In  the  advancement,  very  generally,  of  rehgion,  morals,  edu- 
cation, colleges  and  schools. 

9.  In  uncovering  the  still  great  destitution,  and  making  it  more 
widely  known.  The  resident  population  doubles,  in  ten  years,  so 
that  one  hundred  missionaries  were  now  wanted,  and  a  very  great 
work  yet  remained  to  be  done. 

In  conclusion,  gave  two  reasons  why  this  work  has  increased  so 
greatly : 

1.  The  rapid  increase  of  population  and  extension  of  occupied 
territory ;  and  this,  on  the  whole,  best  for  our  country  and  the 
world. 

2.  An  increasing  appetite  or  desire  thus  formed  for  missionary 
service,  even  among  Germans,  Catholics,  and  others. 

"  After  the  close  of  these  Boston  anniversaries,  he  thus  sums  up 
the  state  of  things  and  the  prospects,  so  far  as  his  own  immediate 
objects  were  concerned.  Owing  to  the  plans  and  arrangements  of 
the  New  England  Sunday-school  Union,  the  prospect  of  raising 
funds  for  publication  purposes  is  but  meager.  I  must  direct  my 
labors  to  New  York  and  the  Middle  States  chiefly. 

He  preached,  however,  in  several  pulpits  in  Boston,  Lynn,  Mai- 
den, and  then  in  Hartford,  after  which  he  attended  the  Connecticut 
Baptist  State  Convention,  at  Middletown,  where  he  explained  and 
pleaded  his  publication  objects  with  happy  effect. 

Then  he  hastened  through  New  York  city  to  Poughkeepsie,  to 
attend  the  Hudson  Kiver  Association,  which,  he  remarks,  had  be- 
come an  immense  body  of  forty-five  churches,  and  nearly  ten  thou- 
sand communicants.  What  a  change  had  twenty-seven  years 
wrought,  since  its  formation  at  the  same  place !  He  was  much 
]tleased  with  the  aspect  of  things  which  he  witnessed.  Most  of  the 
churches  had  been  largely  increased  the  preceding  year,  the  aggre- 
gate of  additions  by  baptism  being  more  than  eleven  hundred.  "J'he 
evening  of  the  second  day  he  addressed  his  brethren  on  his  publi- 
cation cause,  and  there  appeared  to  be  much  interest  excited. 

The  following  day  he  listened  to   the  closing  sermon  before  the 


308  ^  MEMOIR   or   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

association  by  Dr.  "William  R.  "Williams,  reviewing  the  Baptist 
history  lor  the  last  fifty  years,  and  contemplating  particularly  the 
influences,  internal  and  external,  which  had  so  rapidly  increased 
their  numbers  and  effectiveness.  He  well  characterizes  it  as  a 
splendid  sermon,  by  a  masterly  hand.  It  has  been  widely  published, 
and  the  analysis  of  it  contained  in  his  journal  need  not  here  be  re- 
produced. 

The  day  following  he  attended  an  ordination  in  the  interior  of 
Dutchess  county,  and  remai'kcd  on  the  sermon — by  one  of  the 
pastors  in  that  county — that  it  was  exactly  a  Kentucky  or  "Western 
sermon  in  style,  spirit,  language,  and  mode  of  illustration.  The 
preacher  had  certainly  never  been  at  the  "V\"est,  and  this  similarity 
therefore  was  the  more  pleasing,  show^ing  as  it  did  how  certain  it 
is  that  earnest  minds,  in  their  original  and  antrained  manifestations, 
will  be  found  nearly  assimilated.  On  this  occasion,  also,  he  im- 
proved a  favorable  opportunity  to  address  the  large  congregation 
assembled,  in  behalf  of  the  "Western  Publication  Society. 

The  next  few  days  and  Sabbaths  he  devoted  to  New  York  city, 
conferring  with  the  pastors  and  preaching  in  as  many  churches  as 
possible,  on  the  subject  so  near  his  heart,  and  with  which  he  was 
now  officially  charged.  In  the  intervals  of  public  service  and 
private  conference  he  was  v»rriting  extensively  on  the  same  subject 
to  influential  brethren,  throughout  the  Middle  and  "Western  States 
especially.  The  confidence  reposed  in  him  and  his  judgment  by 
the  Board  of  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  Philadel- 
pliia,  and  specially  by  its  excellent  secretary,  Eev.  Morgan  J. 
Pthees,  drew^  forth  from  him  long  and  carefully  considered  letters 
to  them,  in  which  all  the  possibilities  of  ways  and  means  for  carry- 
ing forward  their  enterprise  were  full^^  discussed.  Indeed,  his 
mission  to  New  England  at  this  time  had  that  object  chiefly 
in  view,  to  settle  the  question  whether  both  East  and  "West 
.ould  not  be  induced  cordially  to  co-operate  in  one  national  society 
for  the  promotion  of  the  object,  which,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  ought 
to  be  dear  to  every  intelligent  Baptist,  viz. :  the  difl'usion  of  Bible 
or  gospel  truth  widely  as  possible  amon^  all  our  churches  and  their 
surroundings,  for  the  double  purpose,  first,  of  making  all  our  mem- 
bership more  intelligent,  united  and  harmonious  in  faith  and 
practice ;  and  next,  to  disabuse  the  minds  of  the  i-^ninformed 
masses  in  regard  to  our  real  views,  removing  those  monstrous 
perversions  which  have  been  so  industriously  circulated  to  our  dis- 
advantage, and  in  derogation  of  our  just  claims  to  be  reckoned  an 
important  integral  portion  of  the  great  evangelical  brotherhood. 


SOUNDING    TllL    CJIURCIIES.  301) 


CHAPTER    XXYII. 

Testing  the  Churches  in  regard  to  Publication  Society — Ministers' 
Meeting  in  his  own  House. 

The  next  eight  months,  from  the  closing  da}^s  of  June,  1842, 
till  April  of  the  following  year,  he  was  most  of  the  timo 
busily  engaged,  traveling  much  of  the  earlier  part  of  this 
period  among  the  churches,  with  a  view  of  sounding  their 
sentiments,  and  inciting  their  more  systematic  action  on  this 
publication  subject.  Having  no  doubt  himself  that  such  a 
denominational  organization  was  needful,  he  quietly  moved 
among  his  brethren  and  the  churches,  determined  to  test  their 
convictions  on  this  subject.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  induce 
many  of  these  to  give  sufficient  heed  to  a  great  practical  meas- 
ure of  this  kind  to  enable  them  to  settle  it  satisfactorily.  So 
many  local  interests  were  demanding  aid,  and  so  slow  of  heart 
were  the  majority  of  the  churches  to  co-operate  in  the  other  gen- 
eral societies  for  foreign  and  home  missions  and  the  diffusion 
of  God's  word,  that  it  .is  no  wonder  he  was  sometimes  led  to 
doubt  whether  another  general  object  of  denominational  be- 
nevolence w^ould  secure  a  sufficient  amount  or  degree  of 
favor  to  make  it  worth  his  w^ile  to  leave  other  spheres  of 
labor  which  were  inviting  his  acceptance,  and  give  himself  to 
the  promotion  of  this. 

His  Western  and  Southwestern  tour  had  fully  satisfied  him 
that  a  Western  publication  society  by  itself  would  be  too  mea- 
ger in  resources  to  accomplish  the  desired  object.  It  only 
remained  to  test  the  question  whether  such  a  combination  of 
East  and  West,  of  North  and  South,  in  what  would  be  sub- 
stantially one  Baptist  Publication  Society,  would  unite  the 
suflYages  and  call  forth  the  liberality  of  the  churches  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  measurably  insure  success.  He  knew  of  no 
other  way  of  testing  this  than  b}^  actually  visiting  as  widely 


310  MEMOlll    OF    JOHN   M.   PECK. 

as  possible  among  the  churches  and  associations,  and  learning 
whether  they  would  be  willing,  in  view  of  the  facts  which 
he  spread  before  them,  to  take  hold  of  this  work  systematically, 
making  this  one  of  the  cherished  objects  of  their  benevolent 
endeavors,  and  giving  it  year  after  year  a  regularly  assigned 
place  among  their  charities. 

To  test  this  matter  as  practicably  and  reliably  as  possible, 
he  spent  about  four  months  continuously  in  the  Middle  Stat;es, 
and  chiefly  in  Xew  York. 

Before  setting  out  on  this  mission  he  met,  while  yet  in 
New  York  city,  with  one  of  those  rebuffs  which  so  often  and 
injuriously  affect  the  course  of  public  men.  Taking  up  one 
morning  the  Banner  and  Pioneer,  the  religious  paper  of  the 
West,  which  still  kept  his  name  on  it  as  one  of  its  editors,  he 
there  saw  a  series  of  resolutions  directly  and  somewhat 
severely  censuring  him  for  leaving  the  Western  agency  with 
which  he  had  been  commissioned,  to  labor  in  the  publication 
cause  of  the  East.  This  he  regarded  as  the  more  cruel,  be- 
cause the  very  man  who  was  the  mainspring  and  organ  of 
this  attack  upon  him  was  his  professed  friend  and  co-adju- 
tor.  He  sat  down  at  once  and  wrote  him  a  feeling  letter,  set- 
ting forth  the  unkind  and  unchristian  course  which  he  had 
thus  pursued  against  him.  Confident,  as  he  says,  that  his 
own  course  had  been  right,  and  that  the  Board  of  the  Western 
society  through  this  man's  influence  had  been  wrong,  he  de- 
termined to  continue  his  labors  as  though  this  unpleasant 
transaction  had  not  occurred,  and  on  his  return  West  Jiave  it 
adjusted  correctly.  Meekly  enough  he  subjoins,  ''  Most  men 
in  my  circumstances  would  resign  at  once,  thus  producing 
a  family  quarrel,  but  I  do  not  think  it  is  expedient."  It  is 
very  gratifying  to  know  that  Mr.  Peck's  favorable  anticipa- 
tions in  this  case  were  fully  realized.  In  October  following, 
the  same  Board  which  now  had  censured  him  reversed  their 
action,  and  thus  this  storm  blew  over  innocuous.  Something 
is  to  be  learned  from  this  case,  however,  both  by  general 
agents  and  directing  boards ;  and  very  happy  will  it  be  for 
both  when  they  so  adjust  all  matters  of  mutual  conference 


NEW    YORK    ASSOCIATIONS — HAMILTON    SEMINARY.  311 

and  control  as  to  spare  one  another  such  damaging  manifesta- 
tions of  antagonism. 

Cheerfully  as  though  nothing  had  occurred  to  dampen  his 
M'dor,  he  set  forth  the  very  next  week  to  meet  the  associa- 
tions, whose  annual  sessions  continued  week  after  week  for 
most  of  the  remainder  of  the  summer  and  early  autumn.  He 
had  prepared  and  printed  a  little  tract  of  eight  pages,  by 
distributing  which  among  the  pastors  and  delegates  at  their 
anniversaries,  he  was  enabled  to  present  many  important 
fact^  in  a  more  consecutive  and  permanent  form  than  by  an 
oral  address,  and  leave  him  at  liberty,  when  preaching  or 
speaking  in  behalf  of  his  object,  to  give  more  space  to  the 
utterance  of  truths  connected  with  the  common  salvation,  and 
the  very  marroAV  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  In  these  visits  to 
associations  throughout  his  whole  circuit,  reaching  alm.ost  to 
the  west  and  south  of  New  York,  and  quite  through  the 
centre,  the  east  and  north  of  the  State,  he  was  accompanied 
by  Rev.  Lewis  Leonard,  his  old  friend  of  former  years,  who 
pleaded  the  cause  of  the  State  Convention,  ar_d  part  of  the  time 
by  the  veteran  Dr.  Kendrick,  who  earnestly  solicited  the  aid 
of  the  churches  for  the  education  cause.  With  these  men 
and  their  objects  he  most  cordially  co-operated ;  and  it  is 
pleasant  to  notice  in  his  journal  with  what  interest  he  listened 
to  the  good  and  grave  doctor,  and  how  many  of  his  different 
sermons  (all  brought  to  the  same  .practical  point  however) 
Mr.  Peck  preserved  an  analysis  of,  and  seems  to  have 
treasured  up  with  the  highest  satisfaction. 

His  remarks  on  the  state  of  the  churches  and  ministers  as 
compared  with  those  in  the  West,  together  with  some  incidents 
which  he  met  with,  developing  matters  of  a  more  general 
character,  might  give  some  variety  and  additional  interest  to 
this  part  of  the  chapter,  but  space  cannot  be  allowed  for  them. 

He  witnessed  the  anniversary  exercises  at  Hamilton, 
where  eighteen  young  men,  who  had  finished  their  course  of 
studies,  were  sent  forth,  with  the  benedictions  of  their  pro- 
fessors and  the  prayers  of  the  churches,  to  engage  in  their 
great  w^ork.     Intensely  interesting  was  the  scene  to  him,  fo) 


312  ME.MoJii  ur  JOHN  m.  peck. 

several  were  going  to  the  West  for  which  he  had  pleaded  so 
long.  Two  to  western  Pennsylvania,  one  to  Tennessee,  and 
another  to  Wisconsin. 

In  the  same  neighborhood,  a  few  days  later,  he  listened  to 
a  lecture  by  a  Rev.  Mr.  Storrs,  now  a  zealous  Millerite,  and, 
as  Mr.  Peck  says  : 

"  Quite  enthusiastic  in  the  belief  that  Jesus  Christ  is  coming  next 
year  to  raise  the  saints  and  burn  the  world,  and  that  he  will  dwell 
on  earth  one  thousand  years.  He  was  severe  on  the  clergy,  as  he 
called  all  those  ministers  who  will  not  receive  fully  and  examine 
his  dogmata.  He  represented  them  and  their  members  who 
adhered  to  them  as  foolish  virgins,  not  willing  to  see  their  Lord. 
Now  I  regard  this  doctrine  of  a  personal  reign  of  Christ  on  earth,, 
after  the  present  inhabitants  are  destroyed  and  all  generations  of 
men  ceaae,  as  exceedingly  dishonorable  to  the  Son  of  God  in  his 
mediatorial  kingdom.  The  fair  representation  in  regard  to  these 
men  is,  that  finding  the  impossibility  of  converting  or  reforming 
the  world  with  all  their  intense  and  alarming  messages,  they 
therefore  conclude  that  it  must  be  destroyed !  This  lecturer  is 
quite  sincere,  probably,  and  he  has  fully  converted  to  his  theory 
the  pastor  of  the  Welch  Baptist  church  in  Utica." 

Incidentally  Mr.  Peck  mentions  the  cheapness  and  comfort  he 
found  in  traveling  on  the  canal  from  Utica  to  Rochester,  two  hun- 
dred miles,  for  two  dollars,  good  board  included.  In  the  latter  city 
he  devoted  an  evening  to  listening  to  the  notorious  Abby  Kelly. 
Her  speech  and  the  others  which  he  then  heard,  he  says,  "  Were 
characterized  by  violent  gesticulation,  rant,  denunciation,  and 
especially  the  abuse  of  ministers  and  all  organized  churches.  There 
was  a  singular  mixture  of  fanaticism,  Quakerism,  Unitarianism,  and 
infidelity,  with  ultraism  of  various  hues,  in  all  their  speeches.  Such 
measures  as  they  advocate  can  never  free  the  poor  slaves ;  and  their 
tendency  to  unhinge  society  is  obvious  and  appaling."  Occasioned 
probably  by  what  was  now  passing  around  him,  he  wrote,  while  on 
his  journey,  a  series  of  editorial  articles  for  the  Banner  and 
Pioneer  on  "  Ultraism."  He  seems  to  have  found  the  associations 
which  he  was  able  to  attend  generally  harmonious,  and  imbued 
with  a  good  spirit.  For  the  most  part  they  very  cordially  wel- 
comed the  object*  for  which  he  was  now  pleading.  Many  of  the 
dear  old  friends  whom  he  had  known  twenty-five  or  thirty  years 
before,  now  welcomed  him  to  their  hearts  and  houses  with  grateful 


CROTON    WATER    WORKS — WESTERN    ANNIVERSARIES.      313 

cordiality.  Among  these  he  specially  mentions  Elder  Harvey,  by 
whose  hand  he  put  on  Christ  in  baptism,  more  than  thirty  years 
before. 

Near  the  end  of  September  he  found  it  practicable  to  gratify  his 
desire  of  once  more  visiting  his  birthplace  in  Connecticut,  and 
calling  on  a  large  number  of  old  neighbors  and  friends,  by  whom 
he  seems  to  have  been  welcomed  with  the  utmost  cordiality.  After 
three  or  four  days  delightfully  spent  in  their  society,  each  recount- 
ing the  way  the  Lord  had  led  them  for  so  many  years,  he  took 
what  he  then  expected,  and  indeed  proved  to  be,  his  final  farewell 
both  of  the  place  and  people.  The  following  Sabbath  he  spent  in 
Amenia  with  the  church  which  he  left  a  third  of  a  century  before, 
to  prepare  for  his  mission  labors.  A  new  generation  had  arisen; 
hut  he  found  a  few  of  the  families  of  his  former  flock  delighted  to 
see  and  hear  him  once  more.  All  of  the  congregation,  indeed, 
knew  him  well  by  the  report  of  their  fathers  and  mothers,  if  not 
in  person  ;  and  to  them,  by  their  common  desire,  he  recounted 
with  deep  interest  the  way  his  Lord  had  led  him  so  many  "  years 
in  the  wilderness,  to  humble  him,  and  prove  him,  and  to  see 
whether  he  would  follow  the  Lord  or  not."  The  state  of  the  West 
he  also  portrayed  before  them  in  a  kind  of  living  imagery,  Avhich 
seemed  to  set  all  the  objects  of  greatest  interest  in  a  clear  and 
satisfactory  light. 

In  the  middle  of  October  he  attended  in  New  York  city  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  completion  of  the  Croton  Water  Works,  the  most  Hercu- 
lean enterprise,  he  thinks,  ever  attempted  in  this  country.  As  a 
temperance  man  and  advocate,  one  of  the  most  delightful  and  notice- 
able characteristics  of  that  immense  gathering  was  the  almost 
universal  prevalence  of  the  temperance  reformation.  Of  all  the 
miles  of  procession,  and  the  acres  of  people  who  were  mere 
spectators,  scarcely  one  could  be  seen  intoxicated.  In  the  evening 
of  the  same  day  he  attended  a  temperance  meeting,  and  heard 
Hawkins  and  Anderson  of  the  original  Washingtonians  give  some 
of  their  "  experience."  In  this  way,  he  says,  more  than  one  thou- 
sand dram  shops  in  New  York  city  had  been  shut  up  effectually, 
and  an  untold  amount  of  misery  and  ruin  had  been  prevented. 

Soon  after,  he  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  and  spent  considerable 
time  in  free  and  earnest  conferences  with  the  Board  and  executive 
officers  of  the  Publication  Society.  Their  corresponding  secretary 
talked  of  resigning  his  official  connection  with  the  society.  What 
should  be  done  if  he  did,  and  what  if  he  did  not  ?  were  questions 
of  serious  magnitude  which  the  more  active  and  responsible  mem 
27 


314  MK.MUTR    OF   JuIIN    M.   I'KCK. 

bers  of  the  Board  fonnd  it  difficult  to  aiiSAVor  satisfactorily.  T» 
him  tliey  looked  as  one  better  qualified  to  aid  tbem  than  any  othe 
one,  both  from  his  long-  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  their  \\-ants 
the  necessities  of  our  widely-spread  denomination  in  all  parts  ol 
the  country,  and  also  from  his  having  recently  felt  the  pulse  ana 
tested  the  willingness  of  the  churches  to  entertain  this  society  as 
one  of  their  regular  objects  of  religious  benevolence.  His  opinion 
was  frankly  expressed,  that  the  secretary  had  better  resign.  He 
also  pointed  out  what  he  thought  requisite  to  be  done  in  order  to 
give  the  society  a  firmer  hold  on  the  confidence  and  liberal  support 
of  the  churches.  But  he  declined  giving  any  encouragement  that 
he  could  come  to  their  aid,  though  many  of  tlie  brethren  entreated 
him  to  consider  the  question,  and  expressed  their  conviction  that 
he  was  the  only  man  who  could  successfully  carry  forward  the  en- 
terprise at  that  period. 

The  20th  of  October  he  bade  adieu  to  Philadelphia,  and  with  as 
much  expedition  as  the  low  water  in  the  Ohio  river  would  allow, 
pushed  forward  to  meet  the  Western  Association  at  Cincinnati. 
He  reached  that  city  the  27th,  after  the  meetings  had  commenced. 
Here  he  participated  in  all  the  important  deliberations.  The  for- 
]nation  of  the  Indian  Mission  Association  was  one  of  the  chief  of 
these;  and  though  he  did  not  expect  much  benefit  from  it,  further 
than  to  gratify  and  sustain  the  veteran  McCoy  and  his  family, 
and  to  gratify  some  local  feeling  in  the  West,  which  was  scarcely 
satisfied  with  having  a  mission  so  peculiarly  AYestern  in  its  scope, 
managed  exclusively  by  an  Eastern  Board,  he  thought  it  better  on 
the  whole  to  gratify  this  demand  than  to  resist  it.  For  the  same 
reasons  the  Board  of  this  Indian  Mission  Association  w^as  located 
in  Louisville.  The  educational  interest,  and  specially  the  Theologi- 
cal Institution  in  Covington,  then  rising  into  some  notice,  engrossed 
considerable  attention.  He  looked  to  this  most  hopefully,  and 
spent  much  time  with  Brother  E.  Robbins,  its  enterprising  founder, 
in  counselling  fol'  its  future  course,  and  in  endeavoring  so  to  pro- 
mote its  success  as  should  least  interfere  with  the  prosperity  of 
the  infant  colleges  in  the  Western  States,  which  so  much  needed 
the  fostering  care  and  united  support  of  their  several  localities. 

Monday,  the  31st  of  October,  was  his  birthday ;  he  had  finished 
his  fifty-third  year,  and  seems  astonished  at  the  rapid  flight  of  time 
and  years.  But  another  aspect  of  the  case  still  more  deeply  im- 
pressed his  mind,  and  he  cries  out,  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul,  for 
his  abundant  goodness  ! 

He  took  leave  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  next  day  spent  some  time 


liO-ME    AGAIN — EXTENbiiVE    CORilEaPOXDENCE.  315 

in  Louisville  louking-  into  the  state  of  things,  which  he  found,  so 
far  as  the  interests  of  tlie  denominational  paper  of  the  West,  the 
Banner  and  Pioneer — of  which  he  had  continued  one  of  the  editors 
to  this  time — were  concerned,  somewhat  confused  and  unsatisfac- 
tory. An  informal  meeting  of  the  Board  of  the  AVestern  Bajjtist 
Publication  Society  was  also  held,  to  whom  he  commmiicaUd  his 
general  views  of  this  subject,  as  tliey  have  above  been  stated. 

'J'he  next  day  he  pursued  his  rather  slow  course — owing  to  the 
low  stage  of  water — towards  home.  A  Sabbath  was  spent  on  the 
steamer  ascending  the  Mississippi,  and  he  and  an  English  Brother 
May,  both  preached  on  board  the  boat.  They  reached  St.  Louis 
in  safety  on  Monday,  the  7th  of  November,  and  the  following  day, 
in  company  with  Dr.  Iluxtable,  an  English  Baptist  brother,  who 
went  West  to  spend  some  weeks  with  Mr.  Peck,  he  reached  home, 
finding  his  beloved  family  well  and  happy,  which  called  forth  his 
praise  and  grateful  acknowledgments.  He  had  been  absent  seven 
months. 

AVithmore  time  and  undisturbed  quiet  than  he  had  hitherto  been 
able  to  command,  he  now  sat  down  and  made  a  full  written  report  to 
tlie  Baptist  Publication  Society  at  Philadelphia;  accompanying  it, 
by  their  desire,  with  suggestions  as  to  the  wisest  course  to  be  subse- 
quently pursued.  He  wrote,  also,  to  some  of  the  brethren  of  the 
Board  personally,  explaining  more  minutely  the  difficulties  which  had 
become  known  to  him,  as  growing  out  of  their  past  action  or  want 
of  action,  and  suggesting  the  appropriate  remedies.  The  tenor  of 
his  journal  at  this  period,  and  such  copies  of  his  letters  as  he  pre- 
served, indicate  very  decidedly  how  deep  a  hold  of  his  convictions 
this  publication  work  had  taken,  and  how  anxiously  solicitous  he 
liad  become  that  just  the  right  measures  should  be  pursued  to 
give  it  a  firmer,  broader  hold  on  the  regards  of  the  churches. 

The  remainder  of  this  month  and  the  following  one  Mr.  Peck 
was  engaged  mainly  in  an  extensive  and  laborious  correspondence 
with  brethren  in  all  parts  of  the  comitry,  writing  sometimes  a 
dozen  long  letters  a  day,  and  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  some,  private 
and  personal,  but  far  the  larger  part  with  reference  to  various  aspects 
of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  the  ways  and  means  of  its  ad- 
vancement. He  seems  to  have  favorably  entertained  a  proposition 
about  this  time  to  engage  as  a  "Western  assistant  to  the  Rev.  David 
Benedict,  in  helping  to  prepare  the  new  edition  of  his  History  of 
American  Bapti.^ts.  His  plan  was  for  Mr.  Peck  to  undertake  the 
Western  portion,  and  secure  recent  and  reliable  information  in 
regard  to  the  rise  and  progress  oi'  i'U  the  B?.ptist  associations  in 


316  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

the  "West,  and  sketches  of  the  history  of  the  more  important 
churches,  and  of  prominent  individuals,  ministers  and  others.  To 
prepare  himself  for  such  a  work,  he  spread  the  net  of  his  inquiries 
over  this  whole  region,  and  called  forth  many  responses  and  much 
aid,  both  in  letters  written  to  him  particularly  on  this  subject,  and 
in  minutes  and  other  documents  which  he  procured. 

But  his  labors  in  correspondence  did  not  prevent  his  preaching 
or  lecturing  on  prophecies  or  on  temperance,  or  some  other  useful 
topic,  nearly  every  Sabbath,  and  frequently  on  week-days  and  even- 
ings. Among  the  rest,  a  protracted  meeting  at  Bethel  was  held  for 
a  week  or  more,  and  he  was  desired  to  do  all  the  preaching,  while 
other  ministers  helped  in  prayer  and  exhortation.  He  did  preach 
once  or  twice  each  day,  and  by  giving  something  like  systematic 
order  and  coherence  to  the  range  of  topics  which  he  discussed,  much 
more  religious  instruction  was  communicated  than  usual,  and  a 
high  degree  of  satisfaction  was  expressed  with  the  results  of  the 
meeting.  If  less  were  professedly  converted  than  at  some  former 
meetings  of  the  kind,  the  ministers  thought  that  more  permanent 
good  was  done,  as  the  mind  was  much  more  fed,  and  the  character 
of  the  converts  evinced  more  solidity  and  Scriptural  knowledge 
than  usual. 

A  ministers'  meeting  was  appointed  at  his  house  for  the  end  of  the 
year,  and  to  secure  a  large  attendance,  he  wrote  scores  of  letters. 
The  last  day  but  one  of  the  year  1842,  a  goodly  number  of  the 
brethren  assembled.  They  had  preaching  once  or  twice  a-day,  and 
held  a  private  conference  among  themselves  in  the  intervals,  dis 
cussing  some  of  the  more  important  practical  questions,  relating 
to  ShurtlefF  College  and  ministerial  education  in  the  West :  how 
both  might  be  carried  forward  with  vigor  and  success.  His  own 
case,  and  what  might  be  his  duty  in  present  circumstances,  seems 
also  to  have  occupied  considerable  attention ;  and  he  mentions  how 
deeply  all  were  affected,  when  one  of  the  Lemens,  by  request  of  his 
brethren,  engaged  in  special  prayer  for  him;  thanking  God  for  pre- 
serving his  life  so  long,  and  for  his  continued  usefulness  to  the  cause 
of  Christ  at  large,  and  begging  for  Divine  direction  for  him  in 
future. 

The  meeting  continued  for  more  than  a  week,  and  seems  to  have 
been  a  season  of  much  spiritual  refreshment  to  them  all.  The 
last  question  on  which  they  deliberated  was :  "Has  a  parent,  from 
the  authority  vested  in  his  hands  by  God  and  the  laws  of  our 
country,  any  right  to  coerce,  his  child  in  matters  strictly  religious  f'^ 
This  question,  he  saY«-  was  brought  up  by  a  decision  of  Judge 


DEDICATION- SERMON    FOR   AFRICAN    CUURCH.  317 

liBwis,  of  Pennsylvania,  against  a  Baptist  minister  (Rev.  William  S. 
Hall),  for  baptizing  a  minor  daughter  of  a  Dr.  Armstrong.  After 
full  discussion,  this  ministers'  meeting  decided  this  question  in  the 
negative.  A  distinguished  doctor  of  divinity  and  a  Baptist,  at 
nearly  the  same  time,  however,  wrote  to  this  judge,  approving  his 
decision.     Who,  alas  !  shall  decide  where  the  doctors  thus  disagree? 

The  middle  of  January,  Mr.  Peck  visited  St.  Louis  by  request, 
and  found,  to  his  great  joy,  a  pleasant  revival  in  the  white  and 
colored  Baptist  churches.  The  immediate  object  in  his  invitation 
was  for  him  to  preach  at  the  dedication  of  a  new  house  of  worship, 
just  erected  by  the  African  church — a  substantial  brick  edifice, 
thirty-five  by  sixty-five  feet,  with  galleries,  and  costing  four  thou- 
sand dollars.  Their  church  then  consisted  of  more  than  three  hun- 
dred members,  and  they  maintained  good  discipline.  They  had 
already  raised  among  themselves  the  larger  part  of  the  cost  of  the 
house  which  that  day  they  solemnly  gave  to  the  Lord.  He  gave  a 
sketch  of  the  origin  and  history  of  this  church,  and  its  several 
places  of  worship,  all  of  which  was  hstened  to  with  deep  interest. 

Once  and  again  he  also  preached  for  his  esteemed  Brother  Hin- 
ton,  then  pastor  of  the  other  Baptist  church,  where  several  con- 
versions had  lately  been  witnessed,  and  more  were  anxious.  At 
the  same  time  he  was  getting  from  the  surveyor-general's  office 
in  St.  Louis,  such  sketches  as  would  enable  him  to  correct  and  per- 
fect his  new  map  for  his  Gazetteer  of  Illinois. 

For  the  same  purpose,  a  few  weeks  later,  he  visited  Springfield, 
the  seat  of  government  of  Illinois,  and  while  there,  engaged  in  doing 
good,  lecturing,  preaching,  and  counselling  with  all  the  Mise  and 
good  whom  he  found  assembled  from  different  parts  of  the  State. 
The  governor  solicited  him  to  accept  the  office  of  State  Superin- 
tendent of  Instruction,  then,  as  was  supposed,  about  to  be  perma- 
nently created.  So  much  was  this  in  harmony  with  some  of  the 
important  objects  of  his  life,  ever  since  he  had  been  in  the  West, 
and  so  wide  a  field  would  it  open  for  his  usefulness,  that  it  is  no 
wonder  he  felt  strongly  tempted  to  engage  in  it.  It  shows,  more- 
over, the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  those  most  competent  to  appreciate  his  worth.  But 
the  Lord  had  other  designs  for  him. 


318  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    .^I.  PECK. 


CHAPTER    XXYIII. 

Secretaryship  of  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society — His  A% 
ceptance  and  its  Conditions. 

On  the  27th  of  February,  1843,  MV.  Peck  received,  from  a 
private  source,  intelligence  that  he  had  been  unanimously 
elected  to  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Baptist  Publication  So- 
ciety, Philadelphia.  Four  days  later  he  had  the  official  an- 
nouncement from  the  hand  of  his  predecessor,  who  still  held 
the  office  ad  interim.  This  was  a  fair  specimen  of  the  effi- 
ciency with  which  the  most  important  business  of  the  society 
had  been  conducted.  He  was  in  some  degree  prepared  for 
this  announcement,  as  by  previous  correspondence  he  had 
known  the  wishes  of  a  large  number  of  the  Board.  To  an 
inquiry  addressed  to  him  some  weeks  earlier,  whether  he 
would  consent  to  accept  this  place,  if  elected,  he  had  very 
freely  responded,  stating  at  considerable  length  the  conditions 
precedent  on  which  alone  he  could  consent  to  serve,  and 
closing  with  the  assurance  that  if  any  other  brother  could  be 
found  able  and  willing  to  assume  the  arduous  and  difficult 
duties  of  this  office,  he  sincerely  desired  that  he  might  be  ap- 
pointed ;  since  in  his  own  case  there  were  other  doors  of  use- 
fulness opened  before  him,  more  congenial  with  his  health 
and  former  habits,  and  also  more  remunerative. 

It  may  be  well,  in  this  place,  to  give,  in  a  condensed  form, 
from  his  own  statement,  the  conditions  on  which  he  would 
feel  at  liberty  to  entertain  the  proposition  of  accepting  this 
appointment.     They  were  as  follows  : 

1.  Measures  must  be  promptly  adopted  to  inspire  the  denomina- 
tion with  confidence  in  the  management  and  efficiency  of  the  so- 
ciety, lie  had  found,  the  preceding  year,  great  want  of  confidence 
in  the  energy,  efficiency,  and  econcray  of  its  management,  which 
proved  one  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  in  hii?  -oath.     He  then  did 


NEW    PLANS    FOR   rUliLICATION    SOCIETY.  3U 

all  in  his  po-\vcr  to  produce  confidonce,  and  thinks  he  succeeded  in 
some  degree. 

2.  Economy  in  the  incidental  expenditures  must  be  carried  to 
the  lowest  point  possible,  without  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the 
society.  The  salaries  of  all  employed  in  Philadelphia  to  be  reduced 
twenty  per  cent.,  beginning  with  his  own  office 

3.  A  thorough,  searching  examination  to  be  at  once  instituted 
into  every  department  of  the  society,  so  as  to  ascertain  the  exact 
value  of  the  stock  on  hand,  whether  at  the  depository,  or  in  the 
hands  of  agents  and  colporteurs,  or  in  branch  depositories,  with 
the  losses  incurred  by  bad  debts,  depreciation  of  books,  tracts, 
plates,  etc. 

4.  Make  the  corresponding  secretary  the  general  agent,  with  the 
understanding  that  he  shall  be  relieved  from  editing  the  Record — 
a  small  monthly  paper — and,  also,  that  he  spend  not  less  than 
two-thirds,  and  perhaps  three-fourths  of  his  time  in  agency  works, 
getting  funds  and  superintending  the  sales  and  the  colporteur  sys- 
tem. Make  it  the  duty  of  the  depository  agent  to  conduct  the 
appropriate  business  correspondence  of  the  depository  and  sales, 
as  well  as  the  ordinary  correspondence  of  the  society,  in  his  ab- 
sence ;  having,  if  need  be,  associated  with  him  an  advisory  com 
mittee  of  the  Board,  to  counsel  him  in  important  matters.  The 
secretary,  even  on  his  tours  of  agency,  to  be  still  a  diligent  corres- 
pondent, endeavoring  to  address  every  association,  and  every 
principal  church  once  a  year,  unless  he  paid  them  a  personal  visit. 
To  facilitate  his  operations,  he  should  be  provided  with  two  forms 
of  circulars  :  one  for  associations,  churches,  and  auxiliaries ;  and  the 
other  for  ministers  and  other  individuals.  In  all  cases,  when  send- 
ing one  of  the  circulars,  he  should  write  a  short  letter  on  the  blank 
side  of  the  sheet;  since  people  do  not  notice  a  mere  printed  circu- 
lar, as  they  do  a  written  letter. 

The  secretary  should  also  visit  all  our  colleges  and  theological 
institutions,  address  the  students  on  the  objects  of  the  societ}^  and 
keep  up  a  correspondence  with  the  officers,  and  with  every  society 
of  missionary  inquiry.  Should  correspond,  also,  with  all  our  homp 
missionaries,  and  with  the  secretaries  of  all  general  associations  and 
State  conventions,  inducing  mutual  co-operation,  and  opening  chan- 
nels for  the  circulation  of  the  society's  publications.  Though  this 
double  duty  of  corresponding  secretary  and  general  agent  must  be 
arduous,  self-denying,  and  responsible,  it  all  muat  be  done;  and 
since  tlie  society  has  not  means,  at  present,  to  support  two  men 
for  this  work  it  must  be  done  by  one. 


'620  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.    PECK. 

Now,  in  view  of  this  outline  of  both  the  comprehension  and  dis- 
tribution of  duties, 

5.  Will  the  acting  members  of  the  Board  stand  pledged  mutually 
and  cfFiciently  to  co-operate  in  any  feasible  measure  to  make  the 
society  what  the  denomination  needs  and  expects? 

"Probably  it  would  be  requisite  for  me,  if  I  accept  the  office,  to 
reserve  one  or  two  months,  to  be  with  my  family  and  attend  to  my 
personal  affairs,  with  a  proportionate  reduction  of  salary.  One 
thing  more  in  reference  to  my  health:  I  cannot  expose  myself  to 
travel  in  the  severe  weather  of  winter  in  a  northern  climate,  and, 
consequently,  any  agency  service  I  may  perform  in  winter  must- 
be  in  a  southern  field." 

With  this  fall  outline  of  his  views,  which  the  Board,  by 
})ressing  his  acceptance  of  the  office,  and  the  assurance  that 
lie  was  the  only  man  they  could  find  capable  of  carrying  out 
their  designs,  did  expressly  indorse  and  approve,  the  way 
was  fully  opened  for  his  entrance  on  this  enlarged  sphere  of 
labor.  He  had  counted  the  cost,  and  with  deliberation  and 
resoluteness  put  his  hand  to  the  plough. 

March  and  the  first  part  of  April  he  remained  at  home,  and  in 
its  immediate  neighborhood,  putting  the  finishing  hand  to  some  of 
his  begun  labors  and  enterprises,  and  preparing  himself  and  family 
as  well  as  possible  for  a  long  separation.  He  continued,  moreover, 
the  extensive  correspondence  in  which  he  had  been  engaged, 
making  it  a  preparation  for  the  work  in  which  he  was  so  soon  to 
be  fully  engrossed,  and  calling  forth  the  counsels  and  pledges  of 
co-operation  from  those  whom  he  addressed  in  all  parts  of  the 
country.  He  seems,  also,  very  fervently  to  have  sought  the  Divine 
blessing  on  this  devotement  of  himself  to  a  new,  wide,  and  very  re- 
sponsible sphere  of  service ;  and  he  also  sought  very  earnestly  the 
r»rayers  of  his  brethren,  that  the  sacrifice  he  was  now  willing  to 
make  might  not  be  in  vain.  The  weather,  for  these  two  months, 
was  remarkably  severe ;  storm  after  storm  of  the  most  terrific  char- 
acter occurred ;  and  when  it  was  the  time  of  year  for  the  genial  re- 
turn of  spring,  the  rigid  frosts  and  deep  snows  held  undisputed 
sway.  On  the  5th  of  April,  he  writes,  not  a  green  thing  has  yet 
started  from  the  frost-bound  earth.  The  following  day  he  engaged 
liis  passage  by  steamer  from  St.  Louis,  and  taking  leave  of  his 
family  and  other  friends,  he  set  forth  on  his  way  to  Philadelphia. 
A  joung  man,  an  entire  stranger,  occupied  the  same  state-room 


JOURNEY    TO    nilLADELrillA.  321 

v\dth  liiiu,  and  improved  the  opportunity,  while  Mr.  Feck  was 
asleep,  of  abstracting  from  his  pantaloons'  pocket  two  little  pack- 
ages of  gold  coin,  amounting  to  sixty-two  and  a  half  dollars — nearly 
all  the  money  he  had.  It  was  done  so  stealthily — though  his 
nether  garments  had  carefully  been  placed  behind  him  in  his  berth 
— that  he  Avas  not  awakened,  and  the  thief  went  on  shore,  probably 
at  Smithland,  without  exciting  any  suspicion.  On  his  explaining 
to  the  officers  of  the  boat,  in  the  morning,  the  robbery,  they  prom- 
ised to  use  their  best  endeavors,  by  the  aid  of  their  agent  at  Smith- 
land,  to  detect  the  perpetrator  of  this  villainy.  But  he  remained 
undiscovered,  and  the  loss  was  final.  Our  brother,  with  charac- 
teristic equanimity,  enters  in  his  journal:  ''Though  it  is  nearly  all 
of  my  ready  money,  yet  I  am  not  disturbed.  Providence  will  pro- 
vide !  I  can  only  say,  in  regard  to  this  wicked  young  man,  *  Lord 
have  mercy  on  him.' " 

Stopping  for  a  few  hours  at  Louisville,  he  called  on  Mr.  Buck  at 
his  office,  and  about  this  time  demanded  to  have  his  name  taken 
from  the  head  of  the  Banner  and  Pioneer  as  one  of  its  editors. 
This  semi-official  connection  had  continued  from  the  time  when  liis 
own  paper,  the  Pioneer,  was  transferred  to  Louisville  and  united 
with  the  Banner,  and  he  had  written  a  great  deal  for  it ;  but  in  the 
new  and  official  relations  which  he  was  henceforth  to  sustain,  he 
seems  to  have  felt,  and  justly,  that  there  would  be  an  incongruity 
in  his  appearing  as  one  of  the  editors  of  a  paper  some  of  whose  con- 
tents might  prove  embarrassing  to  him  and  to  the  society  he  was 
to  serve. 

His  good-will  to  the  paper  and  its  conductors  was  not  l)}^  this 
step  diminished.  He  wrote  for  it  frequently  and  ably,  as  a  con- 
tributor, but  without  editorial  responsibility.  AVhile  on  the  steamer, 
passing  up  the  Ohio  river,  his  journal  shoM-s  that  he  was  busy 
in  writing  out  some  numbers  of  a  series  of  articles  on  the  prophe- 
cies, mider  the  head  of  "  Millerism,"  which  was  now  making  con- 
siderable headway  in  the  West.  In  Cincinnati,  he  found  that  the 
Episcopalians  were  lecturing  and  writing  on  the  prophecies,  espe- 
cially on  the  second  advent  of  Christ  to  live  on  earth  one  thousand 
years — the  old  Millenarian  doctrine. 

He  was  cheered  by  the  companionship  of  a  Brother  Potts,  a 
missionary  to  the  Indians,  and  they  reached  AVheeling  on  the  night 
of  the  14th  April.  In  getting  his  baggage  from  the  steamer,  Mr. 
Peck  fell  down  the  stairway,  cut  his  head,  which  bled  profusely, 
but  undeterred  by  this  and  his  want  of  rest,  which  it  occasioned, 
he  took  the  early  mail-stage  the  next  morning  and  hastened  on  hia 


•i22  MEMOlil   01-'   JOlllN    :.l.  PECK. 

journey.  Tlie  next  night,  very  weary  and  worn  out,  lie  readied 
Baltimore.  But  after  resting  a  few  hours,  he  felt  obliged  to  hasten 
on  to  Philadelphia,  which  he  reached  the  afternoon  of  the  17th, 
and  for  about  a  week  devoted  himself  early  and  late  to  the  investi- 
gation of  the  affairs  of  the  Pubhcation  Society. 

The  investigation  which  he  then  made  showed  that  some 
things  were  better  and  some  worse  than  he  had  expected 
On  the  whole,  he  determined  to  press  onward,  right  onward, 
and  endeavor  to  earn  and  deserve  success.  In  company  with 
several  Philadelphia  brethren,  he  hurried  onward  to  Albany, 
where  the  Baptist  anniversaries  were  that  year  held.  He 
reached  there  in  time  for  the  earliest  of  them,  and  with  deep 
interest  attended  them  all.  This,  indeed,  was  always  char- 
acteristic of  him ;  and  to  this  trait  he  owed  in  no  small  degree 
his  success.  He  was  too  good  and  too  great  a  man  to  narrow 
down  his  sympathies  and  ardent  good-will  to  that  branch  of 
benevolence  with  which  he  was  officially  connected,  and  never 
evinced  the  slightest  jealousy  lest  others  should  secure  more 
than  their  share  of  the  attentions  and  the  benefactions  of  the 
public. 

The  annual  report  of  the  Publication  Society  had  been 
drawn  up  by  his  predecessor,  but  he  read  it,  and  took  at  once 
the  official  position  to  which  he  was  entitled.  The  arrange- 
ments for  resolutions,  addresses,  etc.,  had  been  but  imperfectly 
made,  and  the  audience  at  this  anniversary  was  neither  large 
nor  enthusiastic.  However,  the  new  secretar}'  seemed  to  feel 
that  he  must  familiarize  himself  to  reverses. 

It  appeared  that  the  contributions  to  the  society  of  the  en- 
tire year  only  reached  the  meager  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  for  the  general  purposes  of  its  organization,  and 
the  receipts  from  all  sources,  exclusive  of  a  small  amount 
towards  a  building  fund,  were  eight  thousand,  five  hundred 
and  fifty-three  dollars.  True,  there  had  been  some  public  re- 
verses in  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  country.  There  had 
been  an  opportunity  for  the  penurious  to  excuse  themselves 
on  the  complaint  of  hard  times ;  but  the  report  very  justly  re- 
marked, that  this  excuse  would  not  suffice  to  account  for  this 


NEn     YORK    ANNIVERSARIES — SOCIKTV    WoiUv.  o23 

beggarly  deficiency:  for,  "  The  vciy  superfluities  of  Baptist 
living  would  have  been  ample  to  furnish  a  working  capital 
for  the  denominational  Publication  Society." 

As  soon  as  the  anniversaries  closed,  he  hastened  back  to 
Philadelphia,  and  applied  himself  with  vigor  to  preparing  the 
annual  report  and  accompanying  documents  for  the  press,  and 
to  examining  still  more  minutely  and  thoroughly  into  the 
general  state  of  ihe  society's  affairs.  This  was  only  inter- 
mitted for  a  few  days  the  second  week  in  May,  to  enable  him 
to  attend  the  general  anniversaries  in  New  York. 

The  anniversaries  proper  which  Mr.  Peck  attended  in  New 
York,  were  the  Seamen's  Friend  Society,  the  New  York 
Sunday-school  Society  (where  he  made  one  of  the  addresses), 
the  American  Tract  Society,  where  Kincaid  was  very  happy 
in  delineating  tract  operations  among  the  Burmans  and 
Karens,  and  Dr.  Nevin,  very  truthful  in  describing  the  Ger- 
man character  in  the  West;  a  convention  called  by  a  Mr. 
Bingham,  a  missionary  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  for  a  con- 
ference on  the  evangelization  of  the  world — a  new  organiza- 
tion proposed  for  this  end  being  opposed  by  Rev.  Dr.  An- 
derson, Secretary  of  the  American  Board,  for  fear  it  would 
clash  with  other  organizations;  the  American,  Fedobaptwf^ 
Home  Mission  Society,  where  he  heard  some  good  and  sen- 
sible speaking  ;  the  American  Bible  Society,  where  he  thought 
the  tirades  uttered  against  sectarianism,  against  Puseyism, 
and  against  Romanism,  by  several  of  the  speakers,  were  in 
exceedingly  bad  taste  at  a  Bible  anniversary.  In  the  end,  he 
attended  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Temperance  Union, 
where  some  of  the  Washingtonians  held  forth. 

The  venerable  Lyman  Beecher,  his  old  neighbor  and  friend,  also 
gave  the  following  account  of  the  origin  of  temperance  efforts  in 
America : — lie  stated  that  in  1811  he  attended  two  ordinations  in 
Connecticut,  where  rum,  brandy,  and  all  sorts  of  intoxicating  liquors 
were  profusely  drank,  even  by  the  clergy ;  that  at  the  General  As- 
sociation of  Congregationalists  in  1812,  a  committee  on  this  subject 
reported  that  nothing  could  be  done  to  arrest  the  evil  of  intemper- 
ance, when  he  (Dr.  Beecher)  moved  a  recommitment  of  the  report 
and  was  added  to  the  committee,  who  thereupon  brought  in  a  reso 


;:_4  MEMOIR    or   JOHN    M.   PKCK 

luti(ii  If  commending  the  disuse  of  ardent  spirits  at  ordinations 
and  like  occasions :  that  this  led  on  to  his  six  sermons,  preached 
and  smce  published,  and  that  here,  and  in  this  way,  originated  the 
grea'.  temperance  movement. 

At  the  close  of  the  week  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  re- 
sumed the  work  on  which  he  was  before  engaged.  Soon  he  ar- 
ranged to  lodge  in  the  depository  building,  thus  saving  both  time 
and  expense,  and  also  securing  what  he  seems  to  have  much  prized, 
more  undisturbed  opportunity  for  private  devofion.  He  was  not  a 
little  embarrassed  by  the  connection  of  the  Eecord  with  the  Publi- 
cation Society.  It  was  objected  to  by  many,  as  really  little  else 
than  the  local  religious  paper  of  the  Baptists  in  Philadelphia,  while 
at  the  same  time  the  funds  of  the  Society  were  used  to  sustain  it. 
The  desire  of  the  secretary,  after  looking  into  the  matter,  was  to 
secure  the  Baptist  Memorial  and  unite  it  with  the  Eecord,  the  Al- 
manac and  Annual  Eeport,  making  the  publication  monthly,  and 
pretty  closely  identified  with  the  interests  of  the  society.  But  he 
found  a  difficulty  in  securing  the  concurrence  of  the  Board,  some 
of  whose  members  were  tenacious  for  having  it  a  weekly  paper. 

Undef  date  of  May  20th  he  mentions  that  Brethren  C.  and  H., 
formerly  Baptist  ministers,  beloved  and  confided  in,  but  now  carried 
away  by  Millerism,  called  on  him  in  passing  through  Philadelphia  on 
their  way  to  the  West,  to  propagate  the  delusion  of  Christ's  personal 
coming  in  1843-44.  "They  conversed  with  me  for  an  hour,  and 
1  tried  to  show  them  that  the  judgment  announced  in  Dan.  vii.  was 
not  the  last  great  day  of  judgment,  but  rather  the  providential 
judgment  of  God  on  the  monster,  in  which  he  would  break  down 
the  anti-christian  hierarchies  and  open  the  way  for  Christ  to  come 
by  his  gospel  and  Spirit  to  convert  the  world.  These  good  men  are 
deluded.  The  devil  is  certainly  very  busy  with  good  men  to  spoil 
their  usefulness." 

Mr.  Peck's  free  and  generous  spirit  led  him  often  to  overdo 
in  order  to  comply  with  the  wishes,  and  lighten  the  burden 
of  his  ministering  brethren,  the  pastors  of  the  city  churches. 
Once  and  again  his  journal  notices  the  pressure  thus  brought 
on  him  by  being  persuaded  to  supply  for  one  and  another,  so 
that  very  often  he  preached  three  times  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
walked  half  a  dozen  miles  from  one  remote  part  of  the  city 
to  another.  The  consequence  was  that  at  a  Ij^te  hour  Sabbath 
night  he  would  reach  his   solitary  lodgings  in  the  depository 


NEW    ENGLAND    .MKETINdS — REVIVALISTS.  82") 

quite  worn  out.  On  the  19th  of  May  he  took  part  in  the 
anniversaries  of  the  American  Sunday-school  Union.  Drs. 
Tyng,  Leland,  and  Higgins  spoke  before  him,  the  two  latter 
quite  long.  He  spoke  twenty  minutes,  giving  statistical  facts 
of  the  Western  valley,  and  Dr.  L.  Beecher  spoke  as  much 
longer  on  general  principles.  Though  quite  unwell,  he  w^ent 
home  from  these  exercises  and  was  engaged  several  hours  in 
preparing  a  large^amount  of  appropriate  matter  for  an  extra 
Record  which  the  Board  now  wished  to  issue.  Such  are  fair 
specimens  of  what  occurred  in  the  history  of  almost  every 
week  and  day. 

M0XD.A.Y,  May  29^/1.  Though  quite  nmvell,  set  forth  on  a  tour  to 
meet  the  New  England  anniversaries  in  Boston.  Tuesday  attended 
the  anniversary  of  theNew  England  Sunday-school  Union,  where 
he  had  been  announced  to  speak,  but  those  preceding  him  were 
so  intolerably  long,  that  he  declined.  Next  day  the  Northern 
Baptist  Education  Society  was  held,  and  at  the  end  a  sort  of 
conference  on  education  occurred,  at  which-  he  spoke  a  short 
time  on  "  the  state  of  our  ministry  in  the  Western  valley." 
At  the  social  tea-party  that  evening,  he  gave,  by  request,  some 
account  of  the  late  Jeremiah  Yar Jeman.  Then  followed  the  meet- 
ings promotive  of  foreign  and  home  missions ;  before  the  latter, 
Dr.  Wayland  preaching  from  Eev.  xiv.  15  with  his  usual  ability. 
The  following  Sabbath  evening,  at  the  united  Baptist  lecture,  he 
preached  in  behalf  of  the  Publication  Society  and  the  West.  The 
house  was  full  and  the  impression  was  favorable ;  but  just  as  he 
Avas  about  to  clinch  the  nail  he  had  driven,  and  call  out  the 
liberality  of  the  brethren  in  a  collection  for  the  object,  there  was 
a»i  alarm  of  fire,  which  broke  up  the  assembly  abruptly.  Thus 
were  his  hopes  prostrated.  He  stayed  another  week,  visited  some 
churches  at  their  week-night  lecture,  and  twice  preached  on  his 
object,  the  following  Lord's-day,  but  it  proved  rainy.  Then  he 
hastened  away  from  Boston  to  attend  the  Connecticut  anniversaries, 
meeting  that  year  at  Norwich,  where  the  pastor,  Brother  M.  (I. 
Clark,  received  him  most  cordiall3^  The  Baptists  in  Connecticut 
number  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  churches,  and  some  fifteen 
thousand  communicants,  with  one  hundred  ministers.  On  home 
missions  Mr.  Peck  made  an  address,  designed  to  show  the  encourage- 
ment there  was  to  labor  for  the  evangehzation  of  the  Western  valley. 
On  Thursday  the  Publication  and  Sunday-school  cause  came  up.  Ho 
28 


326  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

Bpoke  again  on  this  subject,  and  notices  that  considerable  feehng  was 
manifested.  Prospects  of  co-operation  in  his  object  of  tlie  brethren 
and  churches  in  his  native  State  he  thought  very  favorable.  Near 
the  close  of  the  session,  a  celebrated  revivalist  preacher  and  pastor 
of  that  neighborhood  preached,  producing  as  usual  great  effect. 
Mr.  Peck  records  his  doubts,  however,  whether  such  spasmodic 
influence  is  the  best  and  most  permanently  useful.  He  notices 
that  "  a  number  of  Baptists  under  this  revivahst's  ministrations 
have  become  as  noisy  as  any  of  our  frontier  people.  They  cry  out 
'Hallelujah!'  'Amen!'  '  Glory  to  God !'  and  other  like  expletives, 
very  frequently  and  vociferously,  and  such  habits,  in  these  regions, 
I  cannot  but  regard  as  decidedly  injurious,  as  their  natural 
tendency  is  to  ultraism  and  disorder."  Friday  he  went  to  New 
Londor  and  lectured  at  night  on  the  Publication  Society  and  its 
influence  on  the  West.  The  following  day  and  the  Sabbath 
ensuing  he  spent  with  the  second  and  third  Baptist  churches 
in  Groton,  where  a  life-membership  was  also  secured.  On  Sabbath 
evening  he  w^ent  to  Stonington  borough  and  preached.  The 
two  following  days,  in  company  with  beloved  brethren  who 
desired  to  promote  his  health  and  happiness,  he  took  several  water 
excuioions — boarded  a  noble  whaler  just  ready  to  sail  for  the 
Indian  Ocean — took  a  few  blue  fish  and  crossed  over  to  Watch 
House  Point,  and  obtained  a  fine  view  of  the  three  States,  Ehode 
Island,  Connecticut,  and  New  York,  as  w^ell  as  of  Block  Island  and 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  In  the  evening  attended  a  temperance  meet- 
ing and  made  an  address.  He  notices  with  great  satisfaction  the 
benign  effect  of  the  temperance  reformation,  having  reclaimed 
hundreds  of  sailors  from  inebriet3^ 

Next  he  attended  the  Stonington  Union  Association,  meeting 
that  year  at  Yoluntovrn.  He  notices  a  characteristic  sermon 
preached  during  the  session  by  the  revivalist,  and  another  on  the 
Bible  Society  question,  in  the  close  of  which  it  was  stated  that  all 
the  persecutions,  corruptions  and  evils  of  the  ecclesiastical  hier- 
archies of  Europe,  were  the  result  of  infant  sprinkling;  which 
wholesale  denunciation  our  brother  thought  wrong  and  injurious. 
He  advocated  the  cause  of  his  society  the  second  day,  and  then 
hurried  back  to  Philadelphia,  to  resume  his  routine  of  duty  there. 
In  the  end  of  June  the  Board  transacted  some  important  business 
which  he  had  prepared.  In  July  he  wrote  and  began  sending  out  his 
circular  appeals  to  the  churches.  In  August  he  attended  a  camp- 
meeting  of  the  church  of  God,  or  Winebrcnnarians,  near  Harris- 
burg,  and  so  the  summer  passed  awa}-. 


SECRETxVRY    OF    PUBIJCATION    SOCIETY.  o2T 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Secretaryship— Wreck    of    the    Shepherdess    Steamer — Tours    and 
Labors. 

The  position  of  the  Baptist  Publication  Society  in  the 
year  1843,  and  that  point  at  which  it  is  found  twenty  years 
later,  are  so  dissimilar  that  it  may  be  difficult  fully  to  appre- 
ciate the  embarrassments  of  the  chief  functionary  at  the 
former  j^eriod.  One  prime  object  of  Mr.  Peck  in  his  dis- 
courses, and  the  written  and  printed  appeals  which  he  sent 
forth  to  the  churches,  was  to  awaken  a  livelier  interest  in 
good  reading,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  higher  intelli- 
gence of  the  membership  and  the  community.  "  Give 
attendance  to  reading"  was  a  favorite  and  pertinent  theme 
on  which  he  often  discoursed  to  conventions,  associations,  and 
churches.  They  began  to  wake  up  to  the  importance  of  it ; 
and  as  the  result,  they  sent  to  the  society,  not  the  means  to 
provide  the  requisite  books,  but  clamorous  demands  for  publi- 
cations on  credit — for  more  books,  and  in  greater  variety,  but 
not  the  funds  for  producing  them.  The  demand  was  for 
bricks  in  more  extended  tale  than  ever,  but  little  straw  was 
furnished  for  their  manufacture.  This  was  one  of  the  em- 
barrassments of  the  secretary.  Could  but  a  few  generous- 
hearted,  enterprising  friends  of  this  cause  then  have  come 
forward — as  they  have  at  a  later  period — with  endowments 
by  thousands  of  dollars  at  once,  how  it  would  have  lifted  the 
cloud  before  him,  and  smoothed  his  way  to  earlier,  larger 
success  !  A  public  sentiment  had  not  yet  been  formed  of 
sufficient  power  to  draw  forth  such  gifts,  and  the  society  had 
to  feel  its  way  with  a  degree  of  timid  caution  which  hard 
necessity  imposed. 

Repeated,  short  excursions  were  made  into  Xew  England 
and  the  Middle  States,  where  some  little  help  was  obtained, 


,')28  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

and  more  promised ;  but  it  came  very  slowly.  From  May 
to  December  he  preaclied  seventy-eight  times,  delivered  thirty 
other  addresses,  visited  forty-five  churches  officially,  four 
associations,  five  State  conventions,  six  ministers'  meetings, 
one  camp-meeting,  and  one  college  commencement,  and 
traveled  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  ten  miles,  besides 
office-work  enough  to  have  fully  engrossed  an  ordinary  man. 
Such  were  his  common  experiences  and  efforts,  for  the  whole 
period  of  his  official  connection  with  the  society,  varied  and 
somewhat  relieved  by  his  annual  visit  to  Rock  Spring.  The 
first  of  these  visits  was  marked  by  fearful  peril.  He  was 
hoping  to  reach  his  family  by  New-Year's  day,  but  the  boat 
proved  a  slow  one,  and  the  low  stage  of  the  water  retarded 
their  progress.  On  the  last  Sabbath  of  the  jesir,  by  invita- 
tion of  the  captain  and  passengers,  he  preached  from  the 
text  of  1  Peter  iv.  1,  The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand,  etc. 
How  solemnly  appropriate  to  the  captain  and  others  of  that 
company  !  On  entering  the  Mississippi  river  from  the  Ohio, 
the  "  White  Cloud,"  from  New  Orleans,  passed  them,  and 
some  half  a  dozen  passengers  got  on  board  of  her,  because 
she  was  so  much  faster  than  the  "  Shepherdess,"  on  which 
he  was  traveling.     His  journal  is  as  follows  : 

Jan.  3d.  Our  boat  lay  by  for  some  hours  this  morning  before 
light,  as  the  navigation  was  deemed  dangerous.  At  sunset  we 
were  a  few  miles  above  Herculaneiim.  At  nine  o'clock  the  cabin 
passengers  signed  a  testimonial  of  thanks  to  the  captain  for  his 
carefulness  and  prudence  in  navigating  the  boat  amid  the  dangers 
of  the  Mississippi  at  this  low  stage  of  water,  as  snags  abound  in 
the  channel.  Retired  to  my  berth  at  about  half-past  nine,  with  my 
clothes  on  except  my  coat,  the  night  being  very  cold.  After  con- 
siderable time  I  fell  asleep.  Near  eleven  o'clock  I  was  awakened 
by  a  dreadful  crash  :  the  boat  struck  a  large  snag,  scarcely  above 
the  surface  of  the  water.  This  occurred  a  little  below  the  mouth 
of  Caliolda  creek.  I  heard  nearly  at  the  same  instant  screams  of 
distress,  and  sprang  from  my  berth,  put  on  ray  coat,  seized  one 
boot,  but'before  I  could  put  it  on  the  water  was  rushing  into  my 
state-room,  which  was  forward  of  the  wheel-house.  AVithout  boots 
or  hat  I  rushed  on  to  the  guard,  seized  the  projecting  portion  of 


WRECK    OF  THE    SHEPHERDESS NARROW    ESCAPE.  329 

the  hurricane  (or  upper)  deck,  where,  after  considerable  difficulty, 
I  succeeded  in  getting  on  to  that  deck.  A  number  of  persons  were, 
already  there,  and  man3''  more  got  on  from  the  stepn  afterward. 
The  bow  was  so  far  under  water  as  to  cover  the  guards,  but  the 
stern  held  up  some  time  longer. 

Hearing  cries  in  the  ladies'  cabin  I  got  the  pole  of  a  wagon  on 
(he  deck,  and  thrusting  it  in  at  the  sky-light  tried  to  pry  off  the 
roof,  but  found  it  impossible.  The  ladies,  however,  succeeded 
in  getting  on  the  hurricane  deck,  as  did  most  of  the  steerage 
passengers.  The  boat  was  then  floating  sideways  down  the  current, 
and  soon  ran  on  another  snag  and  careened  partly  over.  This 
threw  ofi'  the  boilers,  and  the  bow  thus  lightened,  brought  the 
guards  to  the  surface.  The  hull  of  the  boat  then  separated  and 
floated  alongside  the  cabin  and  upper  works.  Next  the  smoke 
stacks,  or  chimneys  fell,  which  tore  otf  the  end  of  the  hurricane  deck. 
Captain  Howell,  with  several  other  persons,  was  killed  or  knocked 
overboard  by  the  fall  of  the  chimneys.  The  wheel-houses  were 
soon  separated  from  the  deck,  and  floated  off"  or  sunk. 

Finding  myself  exposed  to  the  piercing  atmosphere,  I  got  down 
on  the  guards.  But  before  this  I  had  prayed  repeatedly  with  the 
people  around  me.  At  first  there  was  much  confusion,  and  many 
screams  and  bowlings  to  God  for  mercy.  Some  professors  of 
religion  prayed  consistently.  While  I  was  on  the  guard,  and  the 
liull  of  the  boat  was  floating  alongside,  I  got  on  the  bow,  and  stood 
for  some  minutes,  but  not  liking  its  movements  I  was  induced  to 
return  to  the  guard  again.  Soon  the  hull  struck  a  bluff-bar  and 
turned  nearly  over.  Several  were  on  it,  and  were  drowned.  Persons 
now  gathered  planks,  doors,  and  pieces  of  the  wreck  to  s>vim  on. 
1  looked  about  for  something  of  the  kind,  but  finally  concluded  to 
stick  by  the  wreck  while  it  floated. 

'J'he  hurricane  deck  fell  after  a  ^vhile,  caused  I  suppose  by  the 
weight  of  the  people  upon  it.  AVe  were  now  on  a  sort  of  raft, 
formed  by  the  cabin-floor  and  guards,  which  continued  floating  as 
the  current  bore  us,  first  on  one  side,  then  in  the  middle,  and  then 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Some  were  entirely  wet — men, 
women  and  children,  with  very  little  clothing  on.  They  suff'ered 
intensely.  A  steamer  lay  at  the  shot-tower,  just  above  Vtdepoche, 
and  as  we  passed  near,  we  aroused  the  men  on  board,  wlio  came 
ofi'  in  their  yawl.  As  it  neared  the  wreck,  I  directed  them  to  pass 
around  to  the  stern,  and  first  relieve  the  women  and  children,  who 
were  perishing.  They  took  on  board  their  boat  most  of  the  ladies 
and  children,  and  put  them  en  shore.     The  next  time  the  yawl 


330  MEMOIR   OF    JOHN    M.   PECK. 

came  near  the  stern  on  my  side.  I  had  made  up  my  mind — since 
I  did  not  suffer  as  severely  as  some  others — to  give  them  the 
preference ;  but  seeing  a  httle  girl  quite  helpless,  I  caught  her  up 
and  leaped  into  the  boat.  By  this  time  we  had  floated  a  long 
distance  down  the  current,  and  were  landed  a  full  mile  below  Yide- 
poche,  so  that  I  had  to  walk  without  boots  or  shoes.  My  stockings 
were  soon  worn  through.  The  ground  was  frozen  hard,  and  its 
sharpness  hurt  me  at  every  step.  One  foot  was  frozen  about  the 
ball,  and  very  much  cut.  I  carried,  too,  one  of  the  babes  of  Mrs. 
Snell,  a  passenger.  On  reaching  the  first  house  they  would  not  let 
us  in.  At  the  next  we  obtained  shelter  and  refreshment.  Soon 
after  a  little  girl  was  brought  in  by  some  men,  entirely  cold,  speech- 
less, senseless.  I  got  a  blanket,  removed  her  wet  and  frozen  gar- 
ments, and  rubbed  her  with  flannels  and  vinegar.  It  was  about  an 
hour  before  she  began  to  moan,  and  more  than  four  hours  before 
any  warmth  appeared,  except  about  the  heart.  She  so  far 
recovered  before  I  left  the  place  as  to  speak.  [Her  name  was 
Maria  Pool,  and  some  days  after,  in  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Peck  received 
the  grateful  acknowledgments  of  her  parents.]  A  boy  was 
brought  in  alive  and  I  prescribed  the  same  course  for  him,  but  he 
was  suffered  to  die.  Another  girl  was  brought  in  dead.  The 
yawl  went  four  times  to  the  wreck,  and  the  ferry-boat  Icelander 
helped  to  complete  the  work.  Soon  as  da3dight  dawned  I  went  to 
the  store  and  bought  a  cap  and  shoes.  Went  -also  to  the  wreck  in 
a  steam  tug  sent  down  by  the  Mayor  of  St.  Louis,  found  my  large 
trunk  with  manuscripts  and  other  materials,  with  overcoat,  so  that 
the  pecuniary  loss  was  but  about  thirty  dollars.  At  an  early 
period,  and  when  the  boat  was  breaking  up,  I  fully  expected  death, 
as  I  could  not  swim,  but  felt  calm  and  resigned,  no  ecstasy  and  no 
fear,  but  perfect  self-possession,  with  ability  to  think  of,  and  care 
and  pray  for  others.     Eternity  wifl  never  seem  nearer  till  I  enter  it. 

Though  dreadfully  lamed  by  the  disaster,  Mr.  Peck,  with 
characteristic  energy,  rode  home  the  next  day,  before  his 
beloved  family  had  heard  of  his  wreck.  Far  and  near  his 
friends  were  greatly  moved  by  his  great  peril,  and  their 
sympathies  and  congratulations  poured  in  upon  him  from 
every  side.  Thus  briefly  he  records  his  sense  of  obligation 
to  the  Divine  hand  which  rescued  him  :  "  Blessed  be  God 
for  his  iroodness  to  me.     I  consider  mvself  under  additional 


HIS   LABORS   AND    CORRESPONDENCE.  331 

Cbligation,  anew  to  devote  myself  unreservedly  to  his  ser- 
vice." 

Through  the  following  week  he  was  confined  to  his  room, 
obli|fed  to  poultice  his  frozen,  lacerated,  and  badly  swollen 
feet,  but  nevertheless  vigorously  engaged  in  writing.  A  full 
sketch  of  the  disaster  he  sent  off  to  several  periodicals ;  and 
by  the  earnest  desire  of  many  friends  he  immediately  set 
himself  to  work  collecting  the  proper  facts  to  be  embodied  in 
a  memorial  to  Congress,  urging  an  appropriation  for  the 
removal  of  snags  and  obstructions  to  navigation  in  the 
Western  rivers.  This  was  soon  completed  and  forwarded, 
and  was  so  favorably  regarded  that  a  generous  appropriation 
was  made  for  this  important  purpose.  Thus  promptly 
assiduous  did  he  prove  himself  in  turning  all  the  events  of 
his  varied  life  to  good,  for  the  welfare  of  his  country,  and  the 
safety  of  his  fellow-men 

For  about  ten  weeks,  or  till  the  middle  of  March,  he  re- 
mained about  his  home  at  Rock  Spring,  though  the  larger  part 
even  of  this  period  was  given,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  pro- 
moting the  interests  of  the  Publication  Society.  Besides 
abundant  correspondence  in  its  behalf  with  friends  all  over 
the  country,  he  appealed  personally  to  as  many  churches  as 
he  could  visit  both  in  Illinois  and  Missouri.  His  prime 
object  was  to  raise  two  hundred  dollars,  and  establish  with  it 
a  depository  in  St.  Louis,  and  a  somewhat  smaller  depository 
of  their  publications  at  Alton,  hoping  that  these  examples 
would  provoke  other  communities  to  a  worthy  emulation. 
The  quotas  of  books  and  tracts  which  the  life-members  were 
entitled  to  he  also  delivered  or  sent  to  them  as  far  as  possible, 
so  that  zeal  for  this  good  work  might  grow  by  what  it  fed  on. 

In  his  return  journey  East,  he  contrived  to  plead  his 
cause  in  Kentucky  and  Ohio  ;  and  early  in  April,  found  him- 
self again  in  Philadelphia,  where,  after  a  brief  survey,  he 
writes  :  "  Prospects  of  the  society  far  more  encouraging  than 
when  I  entered  the  depository  a  year  ago.  In  this  respect 
my  success  has  fully  equalled  my  expectations ;  not  by 
collecting  ample  funds,  but  by  inducing  economy  and  system, 


332  MEMOIR   or   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

and  especially  by  making  a  general  impression  on  the  denomi- 
nation, and  rousing  up  a  spirit  of  practical  and  mutual  co- 
operation." 

The  next  work  was  to  gather  materials,  then  prepare,  write 
and  re-write  the  annual  report  of  the  society.  On  a  review 
of  his  own  labors  for  the  society  he  found  that  during  the 
year  he  had  traveled  seven  thousand  and  ninety  miles, 
preached  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  sermons,  written  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  letters  of  official  correspondence,  besides 
sending  out  many  hundreds  of  religious  circulars. 

In  the  report  he  advocated  with  earnestness  setting  about 
raising  a  publishing  fund  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  five 
years.  So  favorably  was  this  regarded,  that  at  the  anniver- 
sar}^,  held  that  year  in  Philadelphia,  the  project  was  approved, 
and  nearly  one  thousand  dollars  in  cash  and  pledges  were  se- 
cured on  the  spot,  which  the  secretary  hoped  "might  prove 
an  indication  of  what  will  generally  be  done." 

In  May  and  in  July  of  this  year,  he  notices  with  deep 
sorrow  and  mortification  the  riots  in  Philadelphia,  aimed 
mainly  against  the  Catholics.  These  were  not  the  means  ho 
approved  for  securing  or  defending  Protestant  ascendency. 
The  truth  in  love  he  thought  better  than  bludgeons  or  incen- 
diary torches  for  this  purpose. 

His  time  till  near  the  middle  of  September  was  nearly 
equally  divided  between  oflfice  work,  the  selection  and  super- 
intendence of  publications,  correspondence  and  the  like,  and 
going  among  the  churches  and  associations  of  the  States  of 
Xew  York,  jS'ew  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
calling  forth  interest  and  aid,  and  specially  pressing  the  fifty 
thousand  dollar  effort.  Carson's  works  on  Baptism,  Fuller's 
works,  and  some  of  Booth's  works,  were  then  edited  and  their 
publication  commenced 

Early  in  the  autumn  he  set  his  face  to  the  West  again, 
s])ending  some  time  in  western  Pennsylvania,  and  then 
hurrying  on  as  fast  as  the  low  stage  of  water  in  the  Ohio  would 
allow,  he  just  reached  Illinois  in  time  to  meet  their  State 
Convention  in  Belleville,  near  his  family  home,  the  first  week 


VISIT    TO    GENERAL   JACKSON.  333 

in  October.  Failing  to  meet  the  Kentucky  General  Associa- 
tion the  middle  of  that  month,  he  met  with  that  of  Tennessee 
at  the  end  of  it,  and  gave  several  weeks  afterward  to  the 
prosecution  of  the  society's  interests  in  middle  Tennessee. 
This  was  in  the  midst  of  the  exciting  political  canvass  of 
1844,  which  nowhere  raged  with  more  violence  and  intensity 
of  interest  than  in  the  native  State  of  Mr.  Polk,  the  success- 
ful candidate.  His  own  State  was  carried  by  a  very  small 
majority  against  him,  while  he  prevailed  in  the  Union  at 
large. 

Three  or  four  days  immediatisly  preceding  the  election  Mr. 
Peck  was  in  Xashville,  where  he  says,  "  Meetings,  mobs, 
speeches,  songs,  processions  and  fights  were  the  order  of  the 
day."  The  week  before,  in  company  with  a  few  Baptist 
preachers  on  their  way  to  Wilson  county,  where  the  Baptist 
anniversaries  were  that  year  held,  Mr.  Peck  had  called  again 
on  General  Jackson,  at  the  Hermitage.  He  was  not  well 
that  day  and  had  refused  himself  to  other  company,  but 
learning  who  they  were  now  desiring  to  pay  their  respects 
to  the  Ex-President,  he  at  once  required  their  admission.  He 
was  evidently  quite  feeble — sitting  near  his  bed — but  not 
emaciated,  and  preserving  still  the  same  genial  urbanity  of 
deportment  of  which  he  was  a  consummate  master.  He  had 
that  very  morning  been  publishing  some  political  paper  of 
considerable  severity,  but  which  contained,  in  the  close,  a 
few  sentences  from  Washington's  farewell  address,  exhorting 
all  portions  of  the  country  to  seek  its  continued  Union.  One 
of  the  preachers  adverted  to  this  with  commend*ation,  which 
fired  up  the  patriotism  of  the  old  veteran.  For  a  few 
moments  he  quite  forgot  his  infirmit}',  and  poured  out  a  well- 
digested  apostrophe  to  the  spirit  of  union,  and  mutual  con- 
cession on  the  part  of  all  his  countrymen.  His  eye  kindled, 
his  tall  frame  dilated  to  its  full  proportions,  and  he  showed 
himself  again  the  great  patriot  captain  which  he  was, 
especially  whenever  the  designs  of  traitorous  Catalines  were 
to  be  thwarted. 

With  the  venerable  Colonel  William  Martin  also,  a  worthy 


334  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

Baptist  brother,  then  seventy-nine  years  old,  but  hale  a.nd 
vigorous,  Mr.  Peck  formed  a  pleasing  intimacy,  accompany- 
ing him  to  his  home  in  a  romantic  vale  in  Smith  county, 
Tenn.,  and  spending  a  few  days,  pen  in  hand,  taking  down 
from  the  Christian  veteran's  lips  many  of  the  remarkable  in- 
cidents connected  with  his  own  and  his  associates'  endurances 
and  successes,  both  in  their  civil  and  religious  history. 

This  visit  to  Tennessee  the  secretary  was  wont  to  speak 
of  afterward  as  one  of  the  pleasantest  of  his  oflBcial  labors ; 
not  largely  remunerative  in  pecuniary  results,  but  helping,  as 
he  thought,  the  fraternal  union  and  permanent  co-operation  of 
the  widely-extended  brotherhood  for  whose  general  welfare  he 
was  always  solicitous.  Who  can  say  how  much  the  prayers 
and  labors,  the  spirit  and  deportment  of  such  a  man  are  even 
now  doing  to  bring  back  that  noble  State  to  the  cordial  union 
and  fellowship  aimed  at  by  the  loyal  adherents  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  Government  which  our  fathers  have  bequeathed 
to  us  ? 

November  11th  Mr.  Peck  set  out,  on  his  return  from  Nash- 
ville, to  St.  Louis,  on  board  a  small,  stern-wheel  steamer,  which 
proved  a  slow  one,  and  consumed  a  whole  week  in  the  trip, 
which  ordinarily  occupies  only  half  this  time.  He  suffered  some- 
what from  illness,  but  prompt  remedies  and  cheerful  friends 
soon  put  him  in  good  spirits  again ;  and  when  wearied  with  his 
writing,  to  which,  whenever  able,  he  gave  some  of  the  best 
hours  of  each  day,  he  beguiled  the  weariness  of  the  long  pas- 
sage by  recapitulating,  to  willing  listeners,  his  varied  expe- 
riences on  these  western  waters  for  nearly  thirty  years,  from 
his  brst  ascent  in  a  little  boat  with  oars,  sails,  and  setting- 
poles,  in  1811,  down  to  his  fearfully-disastrous  shipwreck  on 
board  the  Shepherdess  the  winter  previous.  As  he  passed 
the  very  spot  which  had  so  nearly  proved  fatal  to  him,  h*e 
looked  through  some  dimming  tears  of  tender,  sad  remem- 
brances, on  the  scene  of  such  deeply  tragic  interest. 

On  reaching  St.  Louis,  he  learned  two  things  of  significant 
interest  and  importance :  first,  that  Rev.  Mr.  Hinton,  pastor 
of  that  Baptist  church  which  he  had  regarded  with  so  much 


DESCRII'TTUN    OF    MR.   PECK'S    FAMILY    AND    HOME.  ?>?>5 

love,  and  cared  for  and  labored  with  so  earnestly,  liad  given 
notice  the  d.iv  preceding  of  his  determination  to  leave  them 
the  following  month,  in  order  to  raise  a  l]aY)tist  church  in  New 
Orleans ;  next,  the  news  had  just  reached  the  place,  that  Xew 
York  had  cast  her  electoral  vote  for  Mr.  Polk,  instead  of  Mr. 
Clay,  thus  deciding  the  contest  in  favor  of  the  former.  On 
the  result  Mr.  Peck  remarks  in  his  journal :  "  Thus,  after  the 
most  exciting  contest  ever  waged,  and  the  most  ludicrous, 
reckless,  unprincipled  means  ever  employed  in  an  election, 
the  result  has  turned  out  precisely  as  it  would,  had  no  such 
efforts  been  made." 

Early  the  following  month,  a  considerable  gathering  of 
ministers  occurred  at  his  house.  He  had  lamed  himself 
badly,  and  could  not  go  to  them,  and  invited  some  twenty  ot 
these  bretnren  to  meet  him  and  a  brother  secretary,  most  of 
whom  came  at  the  appointed  time.  One  of  the  number  thus 
describes  the  scene,  which,  as  it  seems  to  have  been  no  un- 
usual occurrence,  and  helps  to  a  more  accurate  conception  of 
his  home  and  his  neighbors,  is  here  inserted : 

"Eock  Spring  is  the  home,  and  for  so  many  3^ears  has  been  the 
center  of  influence  of  the  veritable  author  of  the  Emigrant's  Guide 
and  the  Gazetteer  of  Illinois ;  the  man  whose  publications  and  cor- 
respondence have  led  more  settlers  into  this  State  than  any  other 
ten  men.  Who  needs  to  be  told  that  this  is  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Per-k ! 
We  should  love  to  draw  aside  the  veil,  just  a  little,  from  this  do- 
mestic scene.  It  proves  that  he  who  has  shared  the  hospitality  of 
so  many  families,  in  all  parts  of  our  covmtry,  is  as  willing  to  exer- 
cise as  to  accept  it.  See  his  cheerful  helpmate,  contenting  herself 
as  best  she  may  to  abide  at  home  and  assiduously  care  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  family  and  guests,  having  never  re-visited  her  native 
New  England  since  her  first  departure  in  1817.  Nor  can  you  fail 
to  notice  that  daughter  Mary,  with  the  father's  energy,  and  the 
mother's  quietness :  how  steady,  noiseless,  and  efiBcicnt  are  all  her 
movements !  and  to  her,  in  no  small  degree,  are  owing  the  comfort 
and  happiness  which  always  smile  around  that  dwelling.  We  need 
say  nothing  of  the  sons,  for  the  older  ones  were  now  absent,  and 
of  younger,  half-grown  men  it  is  not  cpiite  fair  to  speak;  for  they 
are  not  yet  what  they  soon  will  be,  or  ought  to  be :  but  as  their 
good,  considerate  mother  said :  'They  do  so  much  need  their  father 


336  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

with  Ihcm.'  Still,  we  can  trnthfully  testify  to  the  kind-hearted 
ingenuousness  which  they  uniforml^^  evinced.  May  they  one  day 
prove  their  parents'  crown  of  rejoicin^j! 

"A  good  farm,  lying  around  this  Rock  Spring  (you  should  re- 
member that  neither  rocks  nor  springs  are  frequent  hereabouts,) 
and  a  comfortable,  pleasant  house,  larger  in  its  capacity  to  furnish 
good  accommodations  for  the  family  and  numerous  guests,  by  day 
and  by  night,  than  any  of  its  size  we  ever  saw,  is  the  home  of  this 
brother.  He  had  expected  our  coming,  and  knowing  how  very 
limited  our  stay  must  be,  had  arranged  every  thing  in  the  best 
order  possible  to  fill  up  the  day.  Most  of  the  morning  was  spent 
with  him  alone,  in  his  study.  What  accumulations  of  laborious 
carefulness  and  orderly  accretions,  during  a  long  lifetime,  here  sur- 
round you !  Near  noon  the  neighboring  ministers,  far  a  dozen  or 
twenty  miles  around,  begin  to  arrive.  After  some  time  spent  in 
introductions  and  mutual  greetings,  dinner  being  over,  a  goodly- 
sized  congregation  met  in  the  Eock  Spring  Seminary  building,  of 
former  years,  now  only  used  as  a  chapel.  After  praise  and  prayer 
and  preaching,  some  of  us  strolled  over  the  more  interesting  locali- 
ties, bathed  in  the  effluents  of  the  spring,  and  drank  of  its  pure 
waters.  After  tea,  all  assembled  in  the  largest  room,  our  host  act- 
ing as  moderator  of  the  meeting ;  and  from  each  in  turn,  beginning 
with  the  eldest,  some  recital  was  given  of  the  way  in  which  the 
Lord  had  led  them  in  the  wilderness,  lo,  these  many  years !  Thus 
we  heard  in  succession  from  Darroiv  and  Ross  and  the  Lemens 
(who  witnessed  the  first  baptism  in  this  territory  in  1794,  and  the 
first  Baptist  Association  formed  in  1807),  from  Pulliam  and  Taylor, 
from  Fiogers  and  Dawson  and  the  younger  Ross,  and  some  others. 
Most  of  these  were  inadequately-sustained  ministers,  but  loved  the 
cause  apparently  in  proportion  to  the  sacrifices  they  had  made  for 
it.  In  private,  and  in  various  incidental  ways,  it  was  gratifying  to 
see  the  high  regard  whi<;h  they  all  felt  for  Brother  Peck.  "He 
has  been  faithful  to  us  in  helping  to  correct  our  faults,  and  to  im- 
prove our  minds  and  hearts,  and  we  thank  him  for  it,"  was  the 
common  sentiment.  At  a  late  hour  that  evening,  we  prayed  and 
sang  and  wept  and  rejoiced  together ;  n^ar  midnight,  retired  to  rest. 
And  when  all  were  comfortably  sleeping  around,  we  long  lay  in 
wakeful  musings,  thinking  over  the  scene  which  we  shall  never  wit- 
ness again.     Before  daylight,  next  morning,  we  were  hurried  away." 

With   no   little    regret,  the   secretary  gave   up   his  well- 
arranged  plan  of  a  southern  tour  for  the  promotion  of  his  so 


ALABAMA    RESOLUTIONS — TROL'liLLS    IN    SOCIETIES.        337 

ciety  interests,  that  winter.  Family  cares,  in  part,  rendered 
this  imperative  ;  and  his  concern  for  the  Baptist  cause  in  St. 
Louis,  and  his  hope  by  remaining  at  home  to  do  something 
more  efficient  by  his  pen,  all  conspired  to  the  same  result. 
For  nine  successive  Sabbaths  he  filled  the  pulpit  left  vacant 
by  his  Brother  Hinton,  and  succeeded,  in  some  good  degree, 
in  animating  that  church  with  fresh  courage.  His  labors 
were  constant  and  efficient  in  other  localities  also.  Dedica- 
tion and  ordination  sermons,  in  city  and  country,  were  called 
for,  and  he  performed  an  immense  amount  of  acceptable  and 
useful  service,  both  sacred  and  secular,  during  the  winter. 

Early  in  March  he  was  again  at  his  post  in  Philadelphia. 
Finding  that  the  society  had  been  obliged  to  embarrass  itself 
by  temporary  loans  to  the  extent  of  twenty-four  hundred 
dollars,  his  first  endeavors  were  to  provide  means  for  their 
liquidation.  But  he  found  the  minds  of  pastors  and  churches 
so  much  engrossed  by  the  new  and  disturbing  influence  of  the 
response  given  by  the  Boston  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to 
the  Alabama  Resolutions,  that  it  much  impeded  his  success. 
]\Iarch  18th  the  pastors  in  and  around  Philadelphia  met  tc 
confer  on  this  agitating  matter,  A  wide  difference  of  views 
was  found  to  prevail,  and  some  ultra  utterances  on  both  sides 
were  listened  to  ;  and  Mr.  Peck's  journal  says,  that,  after  much 
"free"  discussion,  a  resolution  was  passed,  avowing  the  ad- 
herence of  these  pastors  to  the  platform  agreed  on  at  the  last 
convention.  This  was  reaching  "point-no-point,"  so  far  as 
the  recent  agitating  action  was  concerned. 

At  just  this  juncture,  also,  missionary  meetings  were  held 
successively  in  several  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  Philadelphia, 
to  listen  to  appeals  for  the  Foreign  Mission  Board,  already 
forty  thousand  dollars  in  debt,  and  the  current  contributions 
(by  the  withdrawment  of  the  South)  were  steadily  and  largely 
diminishing.  The  embarrassments  thus  thrown  in  the  way 
of  the  operations  of  his  own  society  were  greatly  perplexing 
to  the  secretary.  He  had  been  planning  for  a  strong  appeal 
to  these  churches,  for  the  relief  of  the  Publication  Board, 
when  this  overshadowing  and  more  urgent  distress  of  another 
29 


338  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

"body,  in  whose  prosperity  they  were  deeply  interested,  inter- 
vened to  postpone,  or  thwart  altogether,  their  own  hopes  of 
relief.  It  only  remained  for  him  to  do  the  best  in  his  power 
now,  and  hope  for  better  times.  He  gathered  some  encouraging 
contributions  from  a  few  churches,  and  with  a  brave  and 
trustful  heart  went  on  to  arrange  the  materials  for  the  annua) 
report. 

At  Providence,  R.  I.,  where  the  Baptist  anniversaries  were 
that  year  held,  he  says  : 

The  Bible  and  Publications  Societies  passed  off  with  much  har- 
mony and  success.  But  both  the  Home  and  Foreig-n  Mission  So- 
cieties were  greatly  perplexed  and  worried  by  discussions  growing 
out  of  the  slavery  aspect,  in  the  bearings  which  this  subject  now 
assumed.  Both  of  these  organizations  were  plied  with  the  practi- 
cal question,  "  Will  you  appoint  slaveholders  your  agents  and  your 
missionaries  ?"  It  became  evident,  before  these  anniversaries  were 
over,  that  all  hope  of  harmonious  reconciliation  on  these  points  was 
futile.  The  Boards  were  placed  in  the  midst  of  communities  pretty 
thoroughly  anti-slavery,  and  becoming  more  and  more  so  every 
day ;  and  though  many  of  the  members,  so  far  as  they  were  indi 
vidually  concerned,  would  not  have  hesitated  to  go  on  as  they  had 
commenced,  disregarding  any  distinctions  between  North  and  South 
on  this  matter,  and  striving  only  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  acces- 
sible to  them,  by  any  competent  instrumentality,  yet  even  these 
were  forced  to  a  stand  by  the  surrounding  pressure. 

Mr.  Peck's  journal  is  very  full  and  minute  on  all  the  ques- 
tions then  debated.  He  was  no  partisan  in  these  distracting 
deliberations  ;  his  voice  was  rarely  heard,  and  whatever  utter- 
ances fell  from  him,  were  characterized  by  the  good  sense, 
the  practical  element  of  sound  judgment,  consistency,  and  ad- 
herence to  the  golden  rule,  which  were  his  daily  guides 
through  life.  It  was  now  his  happiness  to  disagree  only  with 
extreme  men  and  measures  on  either  side;  while  his  views, 
his  feelings,  his  action  harmonized  entirely  with  nine-tenths 
of  the  whole  mass,  the  candid  and  moderate  men  of  all  por- 
tions of  the  country. 

In  June  he  attended  the  Baptist  conventions  in  Connecticut, 
New  Hampshire,  and  Maine.     The  interior  of  this  last  named 


MR.  PECK   RESIGNS   AS    SECRETARY.  339 

State  he  had  not  before  visited,  aud  was  now  much  pleased 
with  it,  especially  the  Kennebec  valley,  Waterville  College, 
and  the  indomitable  enterprise  and  industry  which  he  saw  on 
every  side.  In  like  manner,  during  the  summer  and  autumn, 
he  did  his  utmost,  under  the  existing  circumstances,  to  in- 
crease the  efiQciency  of  the  society,  whose  chief  executive  offi- 
cer he  was — traveling  into  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  to 
attend  the  associations,  State  conventions,  and  any  meetings 
where  he  could  reach  the  public  ear  and  heart. 

As  early  as  the  end  of  September,  he  arranged  with  the 
Board  for  his  permanent  retirement  from  the  position  he  now 
held,  at  the  end  of  the  current  year  of  the  society's  operations, 
and  the  appointment  of  his  successor,  for  which  cause  he  as- 
signs these  two  reasons:  ".I  think  the  society  can  now  be 
made  to  prosper,  with  such  a  secretary  as  Rev.  T.  S.  JMalcom 
would  make ;  and  my  presence  is  very  necessary  in  Illinois, 
both  for  my  family  and  the  churches." 

His  description  is  graphic  of  the  special  meeting  of  the 
Old  Triennial  Convention,  the  last  ever  held,  in  November, 
1845,  where  he  was  one  of  the  committee  on  framing  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Missionary  Union,  and  active  in  the  subse 
quent  debates  on  its  adoption ;  where,  also,  he  met  the  vener- 
ated missionary  Judson  for  the  first  time ;  where,  also,  he 
acted  an  important  part  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  In 
dian  missions,  and  also  led  off,  by  arrangement,  in  the  one 
hundred  dollar  subscriptions,  which  completed  the  extinction 
of  the  forty  thousand  dollar  debt  of  the  Foreign  Mission 
Board — are  all  of  deepest  interest,  but  room  for  their  repro- 
duction here  cannot  be  allowed. 

By  the  1st  of  December  he  reached  Charleston,  S.  C,  on  a 
brief  visit  to  that  State  and  Georgia.  The  hope  and  effort 
was  earnestly,  persistently  made  to  retain  the  connection  of 
North  and  South  in  the  Publication  Society  enterprise ;  and 
for  this  purpose,  every  concession  and  guarantee  desired, 
wore  cheerfully  proffered,  but  not  with  much  final  success. 
The  spirit  of  secession  was  then  as  rife  in  the  bosoms  of  many 
southern  leaders  in  the  churches,  as  it  has  later  become  in  the 


340  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

States.  The  majority  of  southern  men  of  intelligence  and 
principle  did  not  in  heart  approve  of  it ;  but  for  the  sake  of 
union  among  themselves,  as  they  said,  consented  to  what  was 
neither  wise  nor  right.  They  and  others  are  now  reaping  the 
bitter  fruits  of  such  concessions. 

The  remainder  of  the  winter  was  passed  chiefly  in  and 
about  Philadelphia,  in  much  labor,  care,  and  enterprise  for 
the  furtherance  of  the  society's  interests,  and  to  facilitate  the 
labors  of  his  successor.  His  annual  report  argued,  at  con- 
siderable length,  the  demand,  the  economy,  and  efficiency  of  the 
colporteur  system.  In  summing  up  his  own  labors  for  the 
year,  he  recounts  his  travels  seven  thousand,  one  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  miles  ;  has  been  absent  from  the  office  one  hundred 
and  seventy-one  days ;  had  preached  ninety-eight  times,  and 
made  forty-five  addresses;  had  visited  five  Eastern,  four 
Middle,  and  five  Southern  States,  in  promotion  of  the  Publi- 
cation Society  objects. 

Wednesday,  May  6th,  he  took  a  final  leave  of  the  scenes 
and  duties  which  for  three  or  four  years  had  engrossed  his 
thoughts,  and  tasked  all  his  powers,  and  turned  his  face  to- 
wards his  western  home.  How  joyously  he  leaped  up  from 
the  removal  of  the  heavy  burdens  he  had  so  long  borne,  and 
how,  like  the  carrier-bird,  long  sundered,  and  by  a  wide  in- 
terval, from  its  rest  and  its  young,  he  now  sped  on  with  an 
impatience  of  delight  to  greet  those  from  whom  he  had  so  un- 
willingly been  sundered,  he  found  no  language  adequate  to 
express. 


LIFE   Of    DVNIEL    BOONE.  '^H 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

/vuthorsliip — Eooue's  Life — Western  Auiials— Cliaracterislics — Dr. 
Jeter's  Testimony — Burning  of  Seminary  Building — Final  Tour 
in  Eastern  States. 

Gracefully  to  retire  from  a  promiueut  public  station  to  a 
narrower,  humbler  sphere,  is  at  once  difficult,  and  yet  indis- 
pensable to  one  in  Mr.  Peck's  situation.  He  achieved  this 
transition  with  entire  success,  and  reciprocating  the  cordial 
welcome  of  all  his  friends  and  neighbors  in  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri, he  seemed  to  enter  without  an  hour's  delay  on  the 
discharge  of  the  multifarious  duties,  public  and  private 
which  had  accumulated  in  his  long  absence.  These  will 
hereafter  be  narrated  only  in  the  most  summary  manner,  be- 
cause they  are  generally  quite  similar  in  character  and  in- 
fluence to  those  which  have  already  been  described. 

One  son  was  just  now  determining,  against  the  father's 
remonstrances,  to  enlist  as  a  subaltern  officer  in  the  Mexican 
army.  Another,  now  a  student  in  college,  and  under  age, 
could  scarcely  be  restrained  from  following  his  example  ;  and 
though  finally  3^ielding  to  parental  remonstrances,  had  be- 
wme  so  inoculated  with  the  desire  of  roving  as  to  unfit  him 
for  study,  and  thus  disappointed  the  hope  of  a  literary  career. 
Beyond  the  bounds  of  his  immediate  family-circle  Mr.  Peck's 
deepest  solicitudes  were  awakened  for  the  welfare  of  the 
Baptist  churches  in  southern  Illinois ;  and  with  great  efibrt 
and  much  correspondence  he  set  on  foot  measures  for  their 
improvement.  This  year,  too,  1845,  he  wrote  for  Dr.  Spark's 
American  Biography,  the  Life  of  Daniel  Boone.  Much  of 
the  material  for  it  he  had  long  possessed,  but  he  now  took  a 
long  journey  among  the  old  hunter's  descendants,  to  glean 
bomething  more  in  reference  to  his  later  days.  Rejecting 
the  many  romantic  stories  in  regard  to  him,  Mr.  Peck  sifted 


842  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

every  tiling,  and  by  the  venerable  man's  own  statements  was 
able  to  give,  in  less  than  two  hundred  duodecimo  pages,  the 
reliable  record  of  his  life,  which  afforded  the  public  the  highest 
satisfaction. 

At  the  New  Englanders'  celebration  of  Forefathers'-day  in 
St.  Louis,  he  was  called  on  for  a  speech  and  a  sentiment,  and 
gave  "  The  North,  the  South,  and  the  "West,  a  right-angled 
triangle,  the  hypothenuse  resting  on  the  Mississippi  valley." 
His  remarks  were  much  admired.  From  his  multifarious 
correspondence  at  this  period,  two  letters  of  superior  interest 
and  importance  should  here  be  given  but  for  want  of  room. 
One  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Cincinnati  Historical  Society,  on 
occasion  of  his  being  elected  a  corresponding  member,  gives, 
at  great  length,  a  summary  of  his  own  historical  studies  and 
accumulation  of  materials.  The  other  to  the  Home  Secretary 
of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  discusses  very  fully  the 
hindrances,  specially  in  the  West,  to  the  more  successful 
prosecution  of  that  great  and  good  enterprise,  with  sugges- 
tions as  to  the  best  D"W3thod  for  their  removal.  He  wrote  also 
in  favor  of  African  colonization ;  on  Biblical  interpretation  ; 
on  pulmonary  diseases  as  affected  by  the  Western  climate  ; 
lectured  ably  on  both  home  and  foreign  missions  ;  prepared  a 
new  and  improved  course  of  sermons  for  revival  meetings, 
and  delivered  them,  in  series,  at  different  places ;  correspon- 
ded with  Baptist  ministers  and  others  in  Ireland,  on  the 
facilities  and  advantages  of  transferring  their  then  starving 
population  to  the  fertile  prairies  of  the  West ;  prepared  and 
delivered  a  course  of  lectures  on  Aboriginal  Missions  in 
North  America ;  drew  up  an  elaborate  report  on  the  better 
observance  of  the  Lord's-day,  and  secured  its  adoption  by  a 
convention  of  all  denominations  in  southern  Illinois.  At  the 
college  commencement  at  Alton  in  1847,  he  delivered  a  com- 
memorative discourse,  embalming  the  memory,  character, 
liberality  and  w^orth  of  Dr.  Shurtleff,  whose  noble  donation 
had  given  name  to  that  institution.  The  same  year  he  failed, 
by  political  trickery,  to  be  elected  to  the  convention  called  for 
revising    the    Constitution    of    Illinois,    after    having    been 


PASTORAL    DUTIES   AND    LITERARY    LABORS.  343 

earnestly  invited  by  both  parties  to  allow  himself  to  be  a 
candidate ;  this  Induced  him  to  forswear  politics  entirely 
for  the  future. 

In  the  meantime  he  was  pastor  or  stated  supply  of  several 
churches  comparatively  near  his  home,  as  Troy,  Edwardsville, 
Belleville,  and  Bethel.  His  zeal,  system,  fidelity,  and  the 
versatility  of  his  powers  for  reanimating  a  despondent  church 
were,  in  most  of  these  cases,  demonstrated  in  a  way  to  inspire 
fresh  confidence  in  him  as  a  wise  and  good  under-shepherd  of 
the  flock.  Nor  did  he  intermit  at  all,  but  rather  increased  his 
contributions  for  different  periodicals.  A  series  on  the 
Pioneers  of  the  West  for  the  St.  Louis  Republican ;  Notes 
on  Illinois  for  the  National  Era ;  Incidents  of  Illinois  for  the 
Illinois  Journal,  were  each  a  series  of  articles  begun  about 
this  period,  and  some  of  them  continued  till  the  year  of  his 
death.  Other  compositions  of  a  higher  order,  on  which  he  be-' 
stowed  much  labor,  were  often  coming  from  his  hand.  Such 
were  his  discourse  on  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Buena 
Yista  ;  a  commemorative  discourse  on  John  Quincy  Adams; 
and  the  Literary  Address  at  the  commencement  of  George- 
town College,  Ky.,  on  Elements  of  Western  character. 

From  the  first  of  the  year  1849  he  officiated  as  pastor  of 
the  St.  Louis  Baptist  church,  between  the  leaving  of  Dr. 
Lynd,  and  the  coming  of  Dr.  Jeter,  for  about  nine  months, 
editing  also  the  Western  Watchman,  and  giving  much  time 
to  the  African  Baptist  churches  and  all  other  evangelizing 
operations  in  the  city.  During  this  period  he  was  the  efficient 
instrument  in  leading  a  large  number  of  Germans  and  Holland- 
ers who  had  been  pedobaptists,  but  now  embraced  more 
scriptural  views,  to  be  baptized  and  organized  into  a  church. 
Some  of  them  had  gifts  for  usefulness  in  the  ministry.  He 
guided  their  studies  and  reading,  and  one  of  them  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  German  Baptist  Mission  of  the  West,  which 
at  one  time  promised  large  results.  He  successfully  also  set  on 
foot  measures  for  paying  off  a  debt  of  twelve  thousand  dol- 
lars on  the  church  he  was  serving  :  by  dint  of  his  own  perse- 
vering efforts  chictly,  this  good  work  was  accomplished,  just 


844  MEMOIR   OF   JOIi:>    M.  I'ECK. 

before  a  most  disastrous  and  extensive  conflagration  laid 
waste  a  large  portion  of  the  best  of  St.  Louis,  and  its  fleet 
of  steamboats,  burning  up  several  millions  of  wealth  in  a 
few  hours.  The  Western  Watchman  office  was  consumed 
among  the  rest.  It  had  been  owned  by  a  poor  brother  in  the 
church,  and  there  seemed  no  way  to  recommence  the  publica- 
tion, but  to  raise  one  thousand  dollars  at  least,  in  small  sums, 
in  that  State  and  the  proximate  portions  of  Illinois. 

Added  to  all  the  rest,  the  cholera  made  fearful  ravages  during 
a  portion  of  this  summer,  sweeping  off  many  of  his  personal 
fi'iends,  and  clothing  others  in  mourning.  Nor  was  the  college 
at  Alton — that  fond  child  of  his  affections — without  its  serious 
difficulties  in  these  busy  weeks.  Once  and  again  he  was  sum- 
moned to  meet  with  its  trustees,  to  adjust  difficulties  with 
agents  or  others,  who  had  added  to  its  embarrassments.  The 
autumn  of  this  year,  1849,  brought  him  also  the  visit  of  the 
veteran  Dr.  Maclay,  who  seems  to  have  spent  some  days 
at  Rock  Spring,  to  their  mutual  satisfaction.  Still  later 
Mr.  Peck  visited  Iowa,  where  four  of  his  children  were  then 
settled,  and  seems  to  have  taken  much  pleasure  in  the  rapid 
advances  of  that  young  State. 

The  year  1850  opened  auspiciously.  Dr.  Jeter  as  pastor 
of  the  second  Baptist  church,  St.  Louis,  required  Mr.  Peck's 
assistance  very  frequently,  some  protracted  religious  services 
being  now  held.  The  German  church  was  flourishing,  and 
both  the  African  churches  were  doing  better,  and  their  valued 
friend,  the  Pioneer,  was  helping  them  all.  Meantime  the 
AVestern  Watchman  was  resting  almost  entirely  on  his  en- 
ergy, for  editorship  and  the  means  of  its  publication.  Edit- 
ing and  greatly  enlarging  a  new  edition  of  the  Annals  of  the 
West,  was  also  thrown  upon  him.  As  it  came  from  his  hand, 
it  is  a  noble  octavo  volume  of  over  eight  hundred  pages,  full 
of  materials  tolerably  well  digested,  for  the  use  of  future 
historians. 

Soon  after  Dr.  Jeter  assumed  the  pastorship  of  the  St. 
Louis  church,  relieving  Mr.  Peck  of  that  labor,  his  old  friends, 
the  Lemens  and  others  of  the  Bethel  church   Illinois,  arged 


FAMILY    Il£LNI()N.  345 

him  to  accept  its  pastorship,  wliicli  he  did,  and  labored  with 
them  in  that  relation  for  two  or  three  years.  Before  the  close 
of  1851,  Conrad  Witter,  a  German,  entered  into  a  contract 
with  ^Ir.  Peck  to  write  a  description  of  the  scenery  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  from  its  rise  to  its  estuary,  to  accompany  a 
series  of  splendid  engraved  plates.  He  entered  promptly  into 
its  execution,  and  sent  oflf  his  first  number  of  eight  pages, 
beginning  with  Itasca  lake,  within  a  week,  and  by  the  end 
of  the  month  had  brought  his  descriptive  sketches  down  the 
river  as  far  as  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  Witter  finally  failed, 
and  the  plan  was  only  partially  carried  out. 

This  was  a  fair  specimen  of  his  promptness.  That  was 
one  of  his  leading  characteristics.  Rarely  did  he  hold  any 
matter  under  consideration  a  very  long  time,  in  order  to  gain 
more  evidence ;  the  best  within  his  reach  was  grasped  with 
vigor,  and  then  he  acted  on  it  without  much  delay.  Because 
his  decisions  were  thus  prompt,  it  would  sometimes  subse- 
quently appear  that  they  were  less  safe  and  reliable  than 
could  be  wished.  But  the  celerity  of  his  mental  processes 
made  up,  in  a  great  degree,  for  this  incidental  disadvantage. 

The  first  Sabbath  in  the  year  1852  he  gave  this  summary 
of  his  labors  with  the  Bethel  church  for  the  preceding  nine 
months : — Preached  fifty-four  sermons,  besides  thirty-two  ad- 
dresses and  extended  exhortations ;  made  one  hundred  and 
nine  family  visits;  attended  nine  monthly  and  five  special 
church  meetings,  and  rode  seven  hundred  and  six  miles ;  he 
had  been  present  and  officiated  thirty-four  Sabbaths ;  absent 
by  approval  of  the  church,  attending  associations  and  the 
like,  five  SaJ)baths ;  unable  to  attend  by  reason  of  sickness, 
three  Sabbaths. 

June  13th  he  mentions  having  all  his- sons,  with  two  of 
their  wives  and  two  grandchildren,  at  home,  and  surrounding 
the  supper-table  together.  •  He  says  they  were  five  strong, 
hardy  men,  from  twenty-one  to  thirty-eight  years  of  age. 
Two  days  later  he  was  in  St.  Louis,  and  officiated  at  the  Bap- 
tist church,  when  their  esteemed  pastor.  Dr.  Jeter,  very  de- 
cidedly, though  kindly,  tendered  his  resignation,  having  been 


3-iG  MLMOlil   OF    JOHN    M.  TECK. 

called  back  to  A'irglnia.  As  a  conipctcDt  and  impartial  wit- 
ness, the  testimony  of  Dr.  Jeter  to  the  habits,  standing,  and 
character  of  Dr.  Peck,  may  appropriately  here  be  given.* 


*  "  I  had  known  Dr.  Peck,several  years  before  I  went  to  St.  Louis 
\n  1S4!),  but  not  intimately,'and  my  estimate  of  his  worth  was  cou- 
siilei  ably  increased  by  my  intimacy  with  him  for  nearly  three  years, 
lie  was  a  true,  earnest,  laborious,  faithful  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
I  \wis  particularly  struck  -with  his  disinterestedness.  He  was  willing 
to  labor  anywhere,  in  any  department,  and  with  anybody,  if  he  might 
be  useful.  He  engaged  with  equal  readiness  in  the  labors  of  a  pas- 
torate, an  agency,  an  editorship,  or  authorship,  with  little  regard 
to  the  exposure  and  fatigue  involved  in  the  enterprise,  or  the 
meagerness  of  its  pecuniary  reward.  He  was  not  a  man  to  wait  for 
important  and  honoi-ed  posts  of  usefulness  to  be  opened  to  him; 
but  he  entered  promptly  the  fields  of  service  before  him,  and  culti- 
vated them  diligently,  with  the  assurance  that  he  would  not  fail  of 
his  reward.  Though  he  was  a  man  of  strong  will,  and  loved,  as 
earnest  and  energetic  men  are  apt  to  do,  to  have  his  own  way,  yet 
I  never  discovered  in  him  the  signs  of  envy  or  of  mortified  ambition. 
He  thought,  of  course,  his  own  plans  right,  and  struggled  manfully 
to  carry  them  out  ;  but  accorded  to  brethren  differing  from  him 
sincerity  and  worthy  motives.  In  all  his  plans  for  extending  the 
kingdom  of  Christ — and  they  were  numerous — and  in  all  his  warm 
controversies  in  supporting  them,  there  was  an  almost  perfect  self- 
abnegation. 

The  most  remarkable  trait  in  the  character  of  Dr.  Peck,  that  ar- 
rested my  attention,  was  volubility.  Brother  Peck  was  both  a  full 
and  ready  man.  He  was  well  informed  on  almost  all  subjects  ;  and 
on  matters  relating  to  the  West,  his  knowledge  was  various,  gen- 
eral, and  minute.  He  might  be  called  a  Western  Gazetteer,  and 
poured  forth  an  incessant  stream  of  conversation  on  any  subject — • 
religious,  scientific  or  political,  grave  or  ludicrous — that  might  be 
broached  in  his  presence.  His  resources  in  conversation  wei-e  per- 
fectly inexhaustible.  When  once  he  was  fairly  enlisted  in  conversa- 
tion, the  most  resolute  hearer  could  do  nothing  more  than  ask  a 
question,  suggest  a  doubt  or  difficulty,  or  give  some  direction  to 
the  current  of  discourse.  Being  somewhat  fond  of  talking  myself, 
when  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him  I  made  frequent  attempts 
to  participate  in  the  conversation  ;  but  soon  I  resigned  myself,  as 
did  others,  a  mute  auditor  of  his  ceaseless  and  interesting  remarks. 
Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  he  was  rude  or  overbearing  in  his  man- 
ner.    He  was  a  courteous  man      His  manners    however,  were  emi- 


ciiARAc:i:ii  uF  TJii.  I'KCK  m   du.  ji:teii.  347 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  he  prepared  a  special  report  on 
the  finances  of  Shurtleff  College,  and,  in  attending  the  meet- 
ings of  the  committee  and  Board,  devoted  in  all  twelve  days 
oard  work  to  tliis  olyect.     So,  too,  at  the  association,  not  a 

nentlj  Western.  In  most  social  circles  lie  was  the  acknowledged 
autocrat.  He  talked  because  all  wished  him  to  talk,  and  all  choso 
to  he  silent  in  his  presence.  When  he  associated  with  those  wliose 
age,  culture,  and  position  gave  them  a  title  to  a  full  share  in  con- 
versation, he  still  engrossed  it,  partly  from  habit,  and  partly  from 
ihe  gushing  fulness  of  his  thoughts  which  would  admit  of  no  re- 
straint. You  might  as  well  roll  a  ball  down  the  mountain  side,  and 
attempt  to  stop  it  in  its  mid-career,  as  to  arrest,  or  hold  in  check 
the  impetuous  thought  and  bounding  words  of  the  old  pioneer. 

Much  has  been  said,  and  foolishly  said,  of  Western  character. 
Most  people  in  the  West  formed  their  characters  before  they  emi- 
grated thither  ;  and  they  have  been  slightly  or  not  at  all  modified 
by  their  change  of  residence.  But  Mr.  Peck  was  a  Western  man. 
He  removed  to  the  West  while  young  ;  and  his  tastes,  manners, 
habits,  and  modes  of  thinking  and  speaking  were. formed  there. 
No  intelligent  and  observant  man  could  be  in  his  presence  five 
minutes  without  perceiving  unmistakable. evidence  of  this  truth. 
The  pioneers  were  a  hardy,  self-denying,  courageous,  and  inde- 
pendent class  of  men.  For  forms,  etiquette,'  and  pretensions  they 
had  no  respect.  They  were  practical,  not  theoretic.  Mr.  Peck  was 
not  only  a  pioneer,  but  a  master-spirit  among  the  pioneers.  Perhaps 
no  man  of  the  class  did  more  than  he  to  guide  the  thoughts,  mould 
the  manners,  and  form  the  institutions  of  the  West.  He  was  an 
embodiment  of  Western  character — plain,  frank,  self-reliant,  fear- 
less, indomitable,  with  all  his  powers,  physical  and  intellectual, 
subordinated  by  grace  to  the  service  of  Christ. 

I  will  mention  an  anecdote  as  illustrative  of  the  peculiar  charac- 
ter of  Dr.  Peck.  When  he  resided  in  Philadelphia — so  the  story 
runs — as  Secretary  of  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society, 
after  having  been  absent  some  months,  he  reached  home  by  the 
stage  in  the  morning,  and,  unobserved  by  any  of  his  family,  went 
into  his  study,  and  finding  a  great  accumulation  of  letters  and 
papers  during  his  absence,  soon  became  absorbed  in  the  examina- 
tion of  them.  Late  in  the  afternoon  some  member  of  his  family, 
to  his  great  surprise,  found  him  in  his  study,  peering  over  his" 
papers.  I  do  not  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  the  story — indeed,  I  do 
not  wholly  believe  it ;  but  it  is  significant  that  such  a  story  should 
be  circulated  concerning  him.     C)f  all  the  men  I  have  ever  known, 


348  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK. 

little  extra  labor  fell  on  him.  In  preparing  the  minutes  for 
printing.^  carrying  them  through  the  press,  and  other  connected 
services,  eight  days  labor,  besides  the  Sabbath,  was  required. 
He  subjoins,  with  earnest  positiveness :  "  This  extra  labor  is 
too  pressing  on  me,  and  I  am  resolved  hereafter  to  throw  it 
all  off:"  the  practical  comment  on  which  was  that,  a  few 
weeks  after,  he  attended  the  General  Association  of  Illinois, 
and  in  the  absence  of  some  to  whom  it  more  properly  belonged, 
he  prepared  reports,  and  laboriously  advocated  important 
measures  in  repeated  speeches,  very  much  the  same  as  though 
he  had  not  so  firmly  resolved  to  the  contrary.  The  same  was 
the  case  at  the  Pastors'  Conference,  later  in  the  season.  He 
also  wrote  an  elaborate  article  in  the  Christian  Review,  on 
the  History  of  the  Baptists  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and 
several  papers  of  importance  for  the  Christian  Repository,  as 
well  as  carried  on  vigorously  his  numbers  of  the  "  Mississippi 
River  Illustrated."  His  old  neighbor  and  friend,  Governor 
Reynolds,  was  importuning  him  to  write  a  report  and  review 
of  the  school  laws  of  Illinois.  Revolving  this  matter,  he  thus 
jots  down  in  his  journal :  "  If  I  had  time,  I  could  at  least  pre- 
pare a  report  on  a  more  perfect  systenji  of  common  school, 
academic,  and  college  education.     I  will  think  of  it.^'' 

In  the  meantime  a  heavy  calamity  befell  him,  which  must 
be  recorded  in  his  own  words  : 

it  was  most  likely  to  be  true  of  him.  He  was  not  without  social 
affections — had,  no  doubt,  a  fair  measure  of  them.  His  wife  held 
him  in  the  highest  reverence.  He  was  never  charged  with  the 
slightest  neglect  of  his  family.  But  so  completely  had  he  subor- 
dinated all  his  social  affections,  and  all  his  habits,  to  duty  and  use- 
fulness, that  if  any  man  could  have  been  innocently  oblivious  of 
his  family  under  the  circumstances  indicated  in  the  anecdote,  that 
man  was  John  M.  Peck. 

In  a  high  sense  of  the  terms,  I  did  not  consider  Dr.  Peck  either 
a  great  or  a  learned  man,  or  an  eminent  preacher  ;  but  a  man  of 
sound  sense — of  various  attainments— of  earnest  piety— of  good 
•  preaching  gifts— of  extensive  labors— of  much  usefulness,  and  a3 
deserving  a  name  among  the  benefactors  of  his  race,  and  the  last- 
ing gratitude  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  of 
the  Baptist  denomination." 


ROCK    SPRING    SEMINARY    ON    FIRE.  349 

November  I8(h,  Thursday.  What  I  have  sometimes  feared,  but 
tried  to  guard  against,  has  to-day  happened.  Bock  Spring  Semi- 
nary has  been  burnt  I  My  son,  working  in  the  lower  story,  had  a 
fire  in  the  fireplace.  Leaving  for  a  few  moments,  he  found  on  re- 
turuing  that  the  wind  had  scattered  fire  among  the  combustibles 
around  his  work-bench,  and  the  flames  soon  reached  the  ceiling 
above.  He  gave  the  alarm,  but  it  was  too  late  to  put  out  the  fire. 
Some  of  the  books  of  most  value  were  saved,  partly  in  a  damaged 
state.  But  an  important  branch  of  my  labor  for  more  than  thirty 
years  is  wholly  lost.  My  collection  of  files  of  papers,  periodicals,  and 
other  pamphlets,  amounting  to  several  thousand  volumes,  mostly 
unbound,  but  carefully  tiled,  and  my  mineralogical  collection  (rum 
every  part  of  the  country  where  I  have  traveled,  thoroughly  ar- 
ranged and  labeled,  together  with  much  other  matter  which  I  had 
intended  for  some  public  institution,  to  be  preserved  for  generations 
to  come — these  can  never  be  replaced.  Well,  it  seems  to  me  to  be 
providential.  I  have  done  what  I  could,  and  failed  !  I  am  afraid 
my  materials  are  so  destroyed  that  I  cannot  obtain  means  to  pre- 
pare my  projected  work  on  the  Moral  Progress  of  the  Great  Centra' 
Valley  of  the  Western  World.  I  can  only  say,  the  will  of  the 
Lord  be  done. 

It  must  be  very  difficult  for  any  one  not  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  the  man  to  appreciate  the  afflictive  circum- 
stances of  this  calamity — the  loss  of  just  what,  of  all  material 
things  he  most  prized,  and,  as' many  thought,  almost  idolized, 
the  collection  and  preservation  of  which  had,  next  to  his 
Christian  duties,  been  the  great  absorbing  passion  of  his  life — • 
or  to  conceive  aright  of  the  composure  with  which  he  accepted 
it,  as  the  indication  of  his  Heavenly  Father's  will.  Though 
it  broke  up  his  life-plans  and  hopes  in  a  moment,  yet  it  is 
doubtful  whether  any  one  half  an  hour  afterward  would  have 
noted  any  disturbance  of  his  accustomed  equanimity. 

The  middle  of  January,  1853,  found  him  gathering  his  scat- 
tered and  charred  books,  some  fifteen  hundred  volumes,  into  the 
largest  room  in  his  dwelling-house,  which  became  henceforth 
his  library  and  study.  Later  in  the  month  he  spent  some 
days  in  Springfield,  where  the  legislature  was  in  session,  by 
whi^h  he  was  supplied  with  all  their  published  laws,  journals 
30 


350  jNIEMOlTl    OF    .lOIIX    M.   PECK. 

etc.,  a  unanimous  resolution  for  this  purpose  having  been 
passed. 

No  little  sympathy  for  his  loss  by  this  fire  was  expressed 
to  him  by  his  correspondents,  and  also  in  the  notices  of  the 
papers  east  and  ^Vest.  Encouraged  by  numerous  assurances 
of  loving  friends,  that  they  desired  to  supply  in  part,  at  least, 
and  in  kind,  what  had  been  consumed,  he  set  forth,  April  21st, 
for  one  more  eastern  tour,  intending  to  be  absent  several 
months.  At  Covington,  Ky.,  he  witnessed  with  sorrow  the 
failure  of  that  theological  institution  which  he  and  his  friend 
Robins  had  hoped  would  prove  a  blessing  to  the  whole  North- 
west— one  of  the  early  sacrifices  at  the  shrine  of  slavery. 

At  Philadelphia,  with  what  delight  he  spent  a  Sabbath 
with  his  friend,  Dr.  Kennard,  "the  model  pastor,"  as  he  calls 
him,  witnessing  the  baptism  of  half  a  score  of  candidates,  and 
aiding  in  the  sacramental  services  !  At  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Publication  Society,  in  company  with  a  young  friend, 
H.  G.  Jones,  Esq.,  appointed  a  committee  for  this  purpose, 
he  brought  in  a  plan  for  a  Baptist  Historical  Society,  to  form 
a  kind  of  adjunct  of  the  Publication  Society,  and  successfully 
advocated  its  adoption,  dwelling  with  satisfaction  on  the  pro- 
gress of  Baptist  principles.  With  his  old  friend,  Dr.  Malcom, 
he  visited  the  ecclesiastical  patriarch  of  that  vicinity,  the  ven- 
erable Dr.  Jones,  at  Roxborough,  finding  him,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six,  still  pastor  of  his  beloved  church  in  Lower  Merion. 
The  American  Sunday-school  Union,  which  he  had  so  early 
and  efficiently  served,  and  the  Presbyterian  Publication  Board, 
tendered  him  such  of  their  publications  as  would  help  to  sup- 
ply his  loss,  as  did  also  several  private  publishers  both  here 
and  in  the  other  principal  cities  which  he  visited.  In  Troy 
and  Albany  he  attended  the  Baptist  anniversaries  of  that 
year,  noticing  much  to  approve,  and  some  things  which  he 
could  not  approve.  In  Boston,  too,  he  attended  the  May 
meetings;  and  at  Harvard  University,  Cambridge  (which  the 
preceding  year  had  honored  him  with  a  Doctorate)  he  was 
the  guest  of  President  Sparks,  and  witnessed  the  inauguration 
of  his  successor.  Dr.  Walker.     The  younger  Dr.  Shurtleff,  and 


EAPTIST    llISTuiUC-VL.SUCIETY LAST    EASTERN    TOUR.     CjI 

others,  vied  with  each  other  in  tendering  him  hospitality  and 
merited  honors.  Dr.  Anderson,  senior-  Secretary  of  the 
American  Board  of  Foreign  ^Missions,  invited  him  to  their 
rooms,  to  supply,  from  their  reports  and  other  publications, 
his  losses  as  far  as  practicaljle  ;  he  preached,  also,  in  as  many 
of  the  principal  churches  as  his  time  and  strength  would  allow. 
Visiting  all  the  public  libraries  of  mo'it  importance  in  this 
vicinity,  he  copied  whatever  was  most  important  for  his  pur- 
poses, and  sent  home  two  boxes  of  books  and  pamphlets  to- 
w^ards  supplying  his  losses.  Keturning  to  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,  the  next  two  months  were  spent  in  a  similar 
manner.  At  Poughkeepsie,  where  an  esteemed  friend  had 
proifered  him  any  fifty  volumes  he  might  choose  from  his 
library,  lie  secured  many  rare  and  valuable  works  not  else- 
where procurable  ;  and  by  the  end  of  July  set  out  on  his 
return  West  via  Albany,  Buffalo  and  Chicago,  reaching  hia 
home  the  12th  of  August.  He  had  been  absent  three  and  a 
half  months,  visited  for  the  last  time  many  of  his  early  East- 
ern friends  ;  and  had  traveled  by  railroads,  stages,  and  other 
methods,  a  total  of  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fourteen 
miles. 

He  immediately  recommenced  his  pastoral  duties  with  the 
Bethel  church.  Death  had  taken  away  some  of  its  loved 
members,  but  he  was  joyfully  welcomed  by  the  survivors. 
In  September  he  was  surprised  by  the  reception  of  a  unani- 
mous call  to  the  pastorship  of  the  Covington  Baptist  church, 
opposite  Cincinnati.  It  occasioned  him  much  solicitude.  He 
wrote  to  several  friends  for  advice,  and  finally  concluded  to 
visit  them  the  following  month  to  reconnoiter.  Ere  he  did 
so,  the  second  Sabbath  in  October  he  terminated  his  ofiicial 
labors  with  the  Bethel  church,  satisfied  that  he  could  not  con- 
tinue them  through  the  ensuing  winter  with  safety  to  liis 
health.  They  parted  in  love  and  with  mutual  respect  and 
confidence,  his  labors  having  been  very  useful  to  the  church. 


352  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   M.  PECK- 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

LAST    THINGS. 

A  Last  Pastorship — Last  Volume  Prepared  for  the  Press — Last  Loss 
of  a  Child— Last  Hours  of  His  Wife— Last  Tour  Through  His 
Wide  Field — Last  Illness— Death  and  Burial. 

Some  of  Dr.  Peck's  coiTespondcnts,  whom  he  consulted 
in  regard  to  the  propriety  of  his  accepting  the  call  to  the 
pastorship  of  the  Covington  church,  earnestly  remonstrated 
against  it,  as  likely  to  involve  both  himself  and  the  church  in 
great  embarrassment.  But  it  was  always  difficult  for  him, 
with  his  buoyant,  hopeful  impulses,  calmly  to  weigh  the  pro- 
babilities of  failure  in  his  own  case.  He  found  the  church 
somewhat  disheartened  by  repeated  failures  to  secure  as  their 
pastor  some  man  of  standing  and  influence.  It  consisted 
of  some  two  hundred  members,  resident  in  Covington  and 
vicinity,  some  of  them  most  excellent  persons ;  but  the 
ordinary  attendance  of  the  whole  congregation  was  scarcely 
as  large  as  this,  even  in  favorable  weather. 

Scarcely  six  weeks  had  elapsed  ere,  in  an  attempt  to  hold 
extra  religious  services,  with  preaching  every  evening,  he 
broke  down  utterly.  He  thought  it,  at  the  time,  an  attack 
of  his  old  foe,  congestion  of  the  liver  ;  but  after  his  partial 
recovery,  his  kind  physician.  Dr.  Wise,  informed  him  that  his 
lungs  had  been  more  diseased  than  his  liver.  Finally  the 
physician  told  him  with  candor,  that  he  had  never  known  a 
case  of  a  man  at  his  age,  and  with  his  enfeebled  constitution, 
recovering  entirely  from  so  severe  an  attack  of  lung  disease. 
Hence  the  attempt  to  resume  his  pastoral  duties  was  out  of 
the  question,  as  it  would  involve  the  certaint}^  of  soon  breaking 
down.  This  decision,  so  unwelcome  both  to  him  and  the  loving 
people  whose  hearts  and  hopes  more  and  more  clung  to  him 
as  their  beloved  pastor,  was  received  by  botii  vdth  humble 


BRIEF  PASTORATE  AT  CuVINGTON.  oDS 

Christian  submission.  In  his  private  diary  Dr.  Peck  says, 
"  I  have  prayed  most  earnestly  for  Providence  to  show  me  my 
duty  in  flie  present  exigency,  and  am  bound  to  regard  the 
affliction  sent  as  the  decision.  I  have  been  over  forty-two 
years  in  the  ministry,  and  with  all  I  have  done  in  secular 
labor,  I  have  made  that  the  paramount  business  of  life,  and 
every  thing  else  subordinate." 

He  resigned  the  19th  of  March,  1854,  scarcely  three  and  a 
half  months  after  entering  on  the  duties  of  his  pastorship — 
determining  henceforth  to  devote  himself  to  such  work  wi'.h 
the  pen,  in  finishing  the  books  on  hand,  as  he  might  be  able, 
and  to  be  in  readiness  for  his  departure.  The  church,  a  week 
later,  l)y  his  earnest  desire,  accepted  his  resignation,  and 
passed  resolutions,  indicating  their  enhanced  estimate  of  his 
worth,  and  their  continued  confidence  and  esteem.  The  testi- 
mony of  one  of  their  number  is  subjoined  in  a  note,  written 
after  his  death.  =*" 

His  leave-taking  of  his  dear  church  and  Sunday-school  and 
many  personal  friends,  was  very  tender  and  affecting.     April 


*  CoviNGTox,  Ky.,  Julij  1th,  1860. 

Brother  Peck  was  one  of  the  most  original  and  remarkable  men 
I  have  ever  met  with  :  he  appeared  to  be  guided  and  determined 
by  a  stronger  sense  of  duty  and  a  more  unwavering  faith  than  any 
individual  1  have  had  the  pleasure  of  observing. 

When  called  to  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  first  Baptist  church  in 
Covington,  he  was  told  that  the  congregation  could  probably  pay 
him  one  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  His  immediate  reply  was, 
that  eight  hundred  dollars  was  all  he  intended  to  receive  ;  that 
two  hundred  dollars  could  be  kept  to  help  other  ministers  who 
might  be  called  in  to  assist  him  ;  that  his  health  might  give  way 
and  he  might  fail  in  any  protracted  effort.  'J  his  soon  proved  to  be 
true,  and  brought  on  his  severe  illness. 

When  his  physician,  attendants  an<i  tViends  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  his  days  were  few  and  numbered,  I  asked  him  to  let  me 
telegraph  his  wife  (left  at  her  houie  in  Illinois)  to  come  to  see  him. 
He  consented,  with  the  instruction  that  nothing  should  be  com- 
municated that  woulil  alarm  her,  and  declared  that  he  would  not 
die  then  ;  and  for  several  days,  whcu  at  his  lowest,  and  all  believ- 


354  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    M.   PECK. 

20th,  in  compan}^  with  his  invalid  friend  Dr.  Sherwood,  he 
left  by  steamer  for  St.  Louis,  recording  his  testimony  :  "  Were 
I  twenty  years  younger,  and  able  to  perform  the  'duties  of 
pastor,  I  know  of  no  church  I  would  prefer  to  this,  no  city  I 
would  more  desire  to  live  in  than  Covington." 

On  getting  home,  he  set  himself  down  very  diligently  to 
arrange  materials  and  compose  ar4;icles  for  reviews  and  other 
periodicals,  and  wrote  with  care  a  life  of  Yardeman  for  Dr. 
Sprague's  Annals.  The  last  volume  he  wrote  was  the  Life 
of  Father  Clark. 

April  25th,  1855,  the  following  entry  was  made  in  his  jour- 
nal :  ''  It  is  one  year  to-day  since  I  got  home  from  Covington. 
Now  I  am  far  more  feeble  than  then."  Nor  till  June  was 
he  able  to  attend  church,  even  as  a  hearer.  Then  he  enjoyed 
a  visit  at  Bethel  church,  where  a  revival  had  occurred,  and 
sixty  or  more,  many  of  them  his  old,  dear  friends,  for  whose 
salvation  he  had  long  prayed,  and  wept,  and  labored,  were 
rejoicing  in  obedience  to  the  Saviour.  Near  the  end  of  the 
month,  at  the  commencement  at  Shurtleff  College,  he  was 
drawn  into  extra  efforts  to  settle  difficulties.  A  special  com- 
mittee was  raised  for  this  purpose  of  which  he  was  chairman, 
and  says,  "  I  accepted  the  post  with  greatest  reluctance,  but 
with  the  determination  to  risk  health,  or  even  life,  to  save  the 
college."  Alternating  between  sickness  and  partial  recovery, 
he  passed  the  next  three  or  four  months. 

nig  tli.it  he- could  not  live,  liis   faith   that  lie  should  recover  never 
wavered,  although  he  was  scarcely  able  to  speak. 

Dr.  H.  Alaleoui  once  said  in  my  presence,  that  his  greatest  difficul- 
ties in  life  were  to  know  his  duties — that  knowing  them  he  could 
always  do  them.  Dr.  Peck  seemed  to  have  graduated  in  that  knowl- 
edge. He  appeared  always  to  know  and  equally  to  do  his  duty  under 
all  circumstances.  He  was  like  an  angel  in  the  wilderness  :  he  could 
rise  above  every  thing,  and  soar  where  and  whei>  he  pleased. 
With  wonted  esteem,  your  friend  and  brother, 

P.  {?    BUSB. 
Dr.  RuFcs  Babcock. 


ILL-HEALTH.  355 

October  31.s^.  My  birthday  has  come  round  once  more,  and 
finds  me  an  infirm  old  man  sixty-six  years  old,  but  as  frail  and 
feeble  as  some  men  arc  at  eighty-six.  Still  I  have  abundant  reason 
to  be  thankful  to  the  good  providence  of  God  that  I  have  been  thus 
far  preserved  on  the  journey  of  Hfe ;  and  desire  to  trust  in  futuro 
for  all  things  to  the  same  merciful  and  gracious  Providence. 

November  llth.  Ventured  to  preach  a  short  discourse,  sitting 
in  his  chair  to  avoid  the  fatigue  of  standing.  Returning  home,  con- 
versed too  much  with  a  beloved  friend,  and  was  injured  by  it.  Until 
Christmas  continued  in  much  the  same  state  of  health,  getting  out 
to  meetings  in  the  neighborhood,  when  the  weather  was  fine,  and 
occasionally  speaking  a  few  words,  by  request,  after  the  sermon, 
not  more  than  once  or  twice  attempting  to  preach,  sitting  in  a 
chair. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  he  received  the  tidings  of  the  death  of  his 
son,  Harvey  Jenks  Peck,  who  departed  this  life  at  his  residence  in 
Iowa,  December  17th,  a  little  over  forty-one  years  old. 

January  17th,  1856,  he  thus  wrote :  At  the  moment  w?ien  your 
letter  came  to  me  I  was  giving  a  familiar  lecture  to  our  young 
pastor,  on  sermonizing.  He  expressed  a  desire  to  come  to  my 
house  once  each  week,  and  get  me  to  instruct  him.  He  came 
to-day  with  the  skeleton  of  a  sermon  for  the  Sabbath,  and  so  I  gave 
him  a  familiar  lecture  on  sermonizing,  loaned  him  some  books,  and 
pointed  out  in  them  several  portions  to  be  carefully  examined.  So, 
you  see,  I  am  at  the  head  of  a  theological  school,  with  one  student, 
whom  I  most  cordially  regard  as  my  pastor.  I  am  working  out 
practically  what  Dr.  Wayland — as  "  Roger  AVilliams"  in  the  Ex- 
aminer— commends  theoretically. 

My  life  and  health  are  exceedingly  precarious ;  and  I  know  not 
how  soon  I  may  break  down  entirely.  Many  have  urged  me  to 
prepare  something  like  an  Autobiography.  I  have  thought  of 
"  Reminiscences,"  and  keeping  person  and  self  behind  as  much  as 
possible,  draw  sketches  of  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  ;  the  "Times" 
in  which  I  have  lived,  and  the  events  which  have  occurred,  in  which 
I  have  had  some  small  part.  This  is  the  leading  idea,  and  I  have 
actually  commenced  such  a  series  of  reminiscences,  in  the  Western 
Watchman. 

In  the  same  letter  he  solicited  me  to  take  charge  of  what 
he  should  thus  write,  and  of  the  manuscripts,  journals  and 
correspondence  which  ho  might  leave  behind  him,  and  pre- 
pare them  for  the  press.     A  few  of  tbe  reminiscences,  in  full, 


356  MEMOIR  or  juii:^;  m.  teck. 

or  abridged,  have  been  reproduced  in  the  earlier  portions  of 
this  volume. 

Ao;ain,  October  11th,  he  wrote  me  :  My  health  and  strength  are 
continually  failing,  of  which  1  have  conviction  in  the  want  of 
ability  to  write  which  I  possessed  two  years  since.  I  cannot  write 
as  much  in  three  days  as  I  then  could  in  one.  I  cannot  walk  more 
than  one  hundred  yards  without  extreme  fatigue.  I  cannot  stand 
ten  minutes.     I  am  literally  worn  out. 

But  another  and  altogether  new  ingredient  was  now  to  be 
mingled  in  the  cup  which  his  heavenly  Father  prepared  for 
him.  Hitherto  his  help-mate  had  vigorously  sustained  him  ; 
henceforth  he  was  to  finish  his  pilgrimage  alone.  It  seems 
proper  to  give   the  letter  announcing  this  bereavement. 

Rock  Spring,  III.,  Novemher  11th,  1856. 

My  Dear  Brother  : — Before  this  reaches  your  office,  you  will 
have  seen  in  the  Western  AVatchman,  and  perhaps  other  papers, 
the  weighty  and  crushing  affliction  that  has  befallen  me. 

The  wife  I  have  loved  was  an  extraordinary  wife  and  mother,  and 
I  think,  in  justice  to  her  memory,  and  as  an  illustration  of  my 
poor  labors,  I  ought  to  devote  one  reminiscence  to  her,  as  a  re- 
markable help-mate  in  all  my  labors  and  efforts.  I  have  never 
thought  it  expedient  and  proper  to  write  or  speak  in  praise  of  my 
late  dear  wife  while  living;  but  now  she  has  finished  her  course,  it 
ought  to  be  known  in  ivhat  sense,  and  to  ivhat  extent  site  was  the 
help-mate,  pre-eminently,  in  every  department  of  labor  her  Ims- 
band  undertook.  I  now  assure  all  my  friends  that  had  not  that 
woman  possessed  the  principles,  and  been  the  wise,  prudent,  self- 
denying  HEAD,  and  government  of  my  family  she  was,  I  could  not 
have  made  half  the  sacrifices,  and  performed  half  the  services  my 
kind  friends  have  attributed  to  me.  She  was  destitute  of  all  senti- 
mentality, never  manifested  the  nervous  emotion  of  many  females, 
while  her  mind  and  feelings  were  under  perfect  self-control.  She 
jirofessed  conversion  in  the  great  revival  in  Litchfield,  Ct.,  in 
1807,  and  joined  the  Congregational  Church  in  1808.  We  were 
married  May  8th,  1809.  -^  *  *  *  Two  years  since  about  this  time 
both  of  us  broke  down  by  a  little  exposure  and  fatigue  in  attending 
a  series  of  meetings ;  both  had  the  same  complaints — congestion 
of  the  liver  primarily — attended  with  a  bronchial  aflcction. 

There  was  so  much  affinity  in  our  temperaments  and  constitu- 
tions, that  not  onlv  were  wo  afflicted  with  similar  disease.*,  but  the 


DEATH    OF    MRS.  PECK.  351 

game  medical  treatment  answered  for  eillicr.  My  wife  M'ent  with 
me  to  St.  Louis  and  Alton  the  last  week  in  June  to  commencement. 
As  twice  in  nine  months  I  had  broken  down  by  effort  and  fatigue, 
in  endeavoring  to  resuscitate  tlie  college,  she  seemed  unwilling  for 
me  to  go  alone  without  her  watchful  eye.  This  was  the  last  time 
ray  wife  went  from  home.  About  the  middle  of  July  slie  was  at- 
tacked  with  an  irregular  intermittent  fever.  The  usual  remedies 
for  intcrmittents  wet'e  employed,  but  without  permanent  effect. 
Two  days  after  she  was  growing  worse  and  could  take  neither 
medicine  or  nourishment,  and  her  prospects  of  recovery  became 
hopeless.  Her  fever  had  subsided,  but  on  the  14th  it  returned,  and 
become  continuous  with  remissions  till  the  20th,  when  her  fever  left 
her,  never  to  return.  On  the  15th  October  I  saw  there  was  no  hope 
of  her  recovery,  and  held  a  special  conversation  and  prayed  with 
her.  She  stated  that  she  had  always  had  doubts  about  her  interest 
in  Christ,  and  many  misgi\dngs  lest  she  should  rest  on  a  false 
foundation ;  but  since  her  illness  she  had  gained  clearer jiews  of  the 
all-perfect  righteousness  of  Christ,  and  all  doubts  were  gone.  She 
evinced  no  uncommon  emotions,  no  raptures,  but  perfect  calmness 
and  resignation,  strong  faith,  and  an  unclouded  hope  of  future  and 
immediate  salvation.  For  three  or  four  days  (I  think)  she  was 
kept  alive  by  the  skill  and  palliative  medicines  of  her  physican. 

Three  of  our  six  children  now  living  were  here.  After  giving 
her  granddaughter  Mary  one  of  the  most  pertinent  and  effective 
addresses  from  a  dying  person  I  ever  heard,  she  then  addressed 
all  present,  declared  to  them  her  assurance  that  before  another 
day  she  should  be  in  that  state  where  pain,  sorrow,  sickness,  and 
death  can  never  enter.  At  a  cjuarter  before  six  p.m.  on  Friday 
the  24th  she  was  lying  quite  over  on  her  side,  when  some  of  the 
women  noticed  a  struggle  and  change.  I  approached  the  bed  w^here 
she  lay,  turned  her  over,  found  no  pulse  in  her  wrists,  and  only 
a  slight  pulsation  at  her  heart.  I  held  her  hand,  but  not  the  least 
consciousness  remained.  I  felt  no  disposition  to  resist  the  impulse 
to  kneel  by  the  bedside  and  offer  prayer  and  thanks  for  such  a  tri- 
umphant victory  over  death. 

On  Sabbath  I  was  quite  ill,  and  could  not  leave  my  house.  At 
ten  A.M.  the  company  assembled,  and  our  pastor  read  and  sung 
Hymn  1072  of  the  Psalmist,  and  prayed.  The  procession  formed 
and  moved  to  Oakhill  church-house,  where  Elder  James  Lemen 
preached  from  Ps.lxxxviii.  10  :  "Shall. the  dead  arise  and  praise 
thee  ?"  The  coffm  was  opened,  and  several  hundred  friends  saw 
her  face  for  the  last  time.    The  procession  again  formed,  came 


358  M£3iom  or  juiin  m.  peck, 

past  my  house,  and  passed  on  northeast  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
to  Rock  Spring  cemetery,  where  t^hc  will  remain  till  the  resurrcc 
tion.     Yours  fraternally, 

J.  M.  Peck. 

Yeiy  shortly  after  the  burial  of  Mrs,  Peck,  that  early,  con- 
stant friend  of  their  hearts,  Rev.  James  E.  Welch,  arrived 
from  Missouri.  His  presence  and  sympathy  were  a  timely 
consolation  to  the  bereaved  one  ;  and  the  invitation,  cordial 
and  earnest,  which  he  tendered  to  Dr.  Peck,  to  return  with 
him  to  his  home  that  they  might  pass  the  winter  together, 
was  fully  appreciated,  though  it  could  not  be  accepted. 

Near  the  end  of  June  he  was  once  more  able  to  attend  the 
commencement  at  Alton,  and  took  an  important  part  m  the 
deliberations  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  college. 

About  the  20th  of  July  he  set  forth  on  one  more  somewhat 
extensive  tour  through  the  northern  portion  of  the  wide  field, 
which  he  had  so  often  traversed.  With  an  old  and  valued 
friend,  Colonel  Shook,  he,  took  passage  in  an  up-river  Missis- 
sippi steamer  at  St.  Louis,  and  reached  Smith's  Ferry,  nearly 
opposite  Galena,  the  1st  of  August.  Children  and  grand- 
children here  welcomed  him  most  cordially  ;  and  after  four  or 
five  days  he  went  to  Madison,  Wis.,  where  he  was  the  guest 
of  a  dear  friend,  L.  C.  Draper,  Esq.  Thence  he  went  to  Chicago, 
where  he  spent  a  Sabbath,  and  found  troops  of  old  friends 
gathering  round  him,  and  much  enjoyed  their  society.  Dr. 
Boon,  the  Mayor,  made  him  his  welcome  guest,  and  in  his  car- 
riage took'him  to  the  several  localities  of  greatest  importance. 
Returning  to  Galena  he  spent  a  Sabbath  there,  and  reached 
home  early  in  September. 

During  .the  autumn  and  winter  Dr.  Peck  had  frequent  alter- 
nations of  illness  and  partial  recovery.  October  21st,  his 
journal  says :  "  Find  myself  very  feeble  ;  unable  to  do  much  ; 
and  think  I  shall  be  compelled  to  quit  writing  for  the  papers 
and  periodicals  and  confine  myself  to  such  manuscripts  as  are 
indispensable  to  my  reminiscences."  Ten  days  later  he  says.: 
"  This  is  my  birth-day,  and  I  am  sixty-eight  years  old.  It  is 
hardly  possible  for  me  to  live  to  see  another  anniversary.    My 


LAST    SICKNKSS — TllILMrilANT    DEATIL  359 

sole  dependence-  is  on  the  mercy  and  f^racc  of  God.  0  Lord, 
into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit !"  The  following  are  among 
the  last  entries- in  his  journal  : 

November  Vitli.  At  one  o'clock  my  old  friend,  Welch,  came  lo 
see  me,  and  I  talked  and  talked  till  quite  fatigued.  I  forget  to  refrain 
from  talking,  a  sure  sign  that  my  mind  and  judgment  are  failing  with 
my  body. 

20//<.  To-day  my  friend  Russell  arrived  from  BlufTdale.  Of  course 
he  was  joyfully  received.     We  conversed  till  I  was  tired  out. 

2Wi.  Thanksgiving.  Governor  Reynolds,  Deacon  Simmons,  El- 
ders Storrs,  Ross,  and  Ely,  with  neighbors  Crosby,  Colvcr  and  wife, 
dined  with  me. 

Feb.  IG/'/i,  1857.  President  Read  and  my  old  friend  Cyrus  Edwards 
came  here  to  see  me,  and  we  met  most  cordially.  Discussed  college 
matters  very  fully.  The  conversation  was  cheerful  and  exhilarating, 
and  we  enjoyed  ourselves  greatly. 

This  was  about  the  last  of  his  social  cnjo3'ments  which  he 
had  health  really  to  relish.  For  some  days  afterward  he  kept 
about  as  before  ;  but  on  the  25th  of  February  he  made  the 
last  entry  in  his  journal,  and  that  a  brief  one,  chiefly  in  regard 
to  the  weather.  Next  day,  and  several  following  ones,  he 
seemed  to  have  no  appetite,  kept  his  bed  most  of  the  time, 
merely  rising  to  conduct  morning  family-worship,  but  not  re- 
maining for  breakfast,  and  saying  very  distinctly,  but  with 
much  cheerfulness,  to  his  son  Ilenry,  that  his  time  was  short. 

Sunday,  28th  February,  he  came  into  the  dining-room  in 
the  morning,  took  the  Bible  as  usual,  read  three  verses  only, 
and  then  kneeled  with  the  family  and  with  great  difficulty 
offered  a  short  prayer.  It  was  the  Ici^t  reading,  the  la^'ljjraijcr 
with  the  family. 

But  why  repeat  here  the  struggling  endurances  of  the  last 
few  days  ?  Ilis  mind  remained  most  of  the  time  serene  and 
unclouded  to  the  last.  Lord's-day,  ^March  Tth,  his  pastor.  Elder 
Storrs,  called  after  preaching ;  had  some  very  solemn  con- 
versation with  him  ;  asked  particularly  how  he  felt  in  view 
of  dying.  He  replied:  "I  feel  as  I  always  have  felt  since 
relying  on  Christ.     If  I  was  not  ready  for  death,  th'iF  would 


360  MEMOIR   or   JOHN    M.  PECK. 

be  a  poor  lime  to  prepare.  But  I  have  no  fear  (/f  death  at 
all.  I  assure  you  I  am  a  stranger  to  any  such  feeling  as 
fear  in  reference  to  dying.  Tell  this  to  all  these  kind  friends" 
. — many  were  then  in  the  room — "  and  pray  for  them  and  the 
family." 

Sunday,  March  14th,  he  had  an  interview  with  his  friend, 
Rev.  W.  F.  Boyakin.  He  said  to  him  with  emphasis  :  "  I  have 
never  done  any  thing  that  can  save  me.  All  my  works  could 
never  rescue  me  from  destruction.  Only  Christ  is  my  Saviour, 
my  whole  dependence  I"  His  pastor  and  L.  Sleeper  of  St.  Louis 
were  with  him  in  the  evening.  The  latter,  on  coming  in,  was 
recognized  and  addressed  with  the  calm  testimony  of  the  dying 
man  :  "  I  am  almost  gone."  He  had  before  given  his  parting 
words  and  blessing  to  each  of  his  family,  and  a  quarter  before 
nine  in  the  evening  he  expired.  In  imitation  of  his  example  at 
the  deathbed  of  his  wife,  a  few  months  before,  the  company  all 
kneeled  and  joined  with  Mr.  Storrs  in  fervent  prayer  and 
thanksgiving.  For  thirty-six  hours  from  that  time  the  rain 
came  down  profusely  and  incessantly.  But  when  the  lOur 
for  the  funeral  arrived,  the  rain  ceased  and  the  sun  shoae  out 
beautifully.  Rev.  James  Lemen  preached  a  funeral  sermon 
from  the  emphatic  words  of  the  apostle  :  "I  have  fought  a 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  coiirae,  I  have  kept  the  faith. ^^ 
Very  touching  was  the  scene  when,  the  venerable  preacher 
descended  from  the  pulpit  and,  approaching  the  cold  remains, 
laid  his  trembling  hand  on  the  brow  of  the  deceased,  and 
with  a  choked  utterance  sung  three  stanzas  of  the  hymn  be- 
ginning : .  "  The  languishing  head  is  at  rest.  Its  thinking  and 
aching  are  o'er." 

Twenty-nine  days  later,  by  the  special  desire  of  many 
friends,  his  remains  were  removed  to  the  Bellefontaine  ceme- 
tery, St.  Louis,  where  another  funeral  service  was  attended, 
Rev.  Dr.  Crowell  delivering  a  commemorative  discourse,  em- 
bracing a  well-merited  eulogy  of  his  character  and  labors.  In 
that  central  position  of  the  wide  field  which  he  had  watched 
over,  and  labored  so  long  and  well  to  cultivate,  his  remains 
repose.     "  Si  monumentum  quseris  circum spice." 


